Shadow X
by Spiders922
Summary: A different take on the cartoon Sonic X. Instead of Sonic as the lead, we have Shadow. And there is a human involved, it's not Chris. It's someone I plan to make a bit more interesting. But not in an annoying way.
1. Chaos Control

It was a quiet night. Well, was. Up until the alarms went off. A dark figure moved through the shadows faster than the eye could follow towards the base that set the alarm off. Giant spherical tanks rolled up to the gate to prevent the intruder. Scanning the area, they picked up a streak moving at them. FAST! They fired everything, but the streak blew past the shots moving closer to the base. Missiles fired, but the blur shot upwards, going between the missiles as the all turned the same direction and blowing up each other. The figure jumped from robot to robot in a dark sphere, bouncing off or tearing through the metal like it's nothing. A photo dropped from one of the robots, showing a black hedgehog. As he moved closer to the base, bigger mechs were deployed, forcing the dark hedgehog to turn a different way.

He seemed to have luck in avoiding the bots, but stepped on a spring that launched him into the air. Upon recovery, one of the bigger mechs slammed int's arm into the hedgehog, sending him away into the forest. Suddenly, a light shown from where the hedgehog was sent away, and a massive energy sphere shot forward, passing a blue biplane. He blasted through all the bots, tearing the metal to scrap until he was stopped by one and put into the ground. That however, only lasted a second or two as the robot exploded, and a black orb shot into the light, shattering the glass.

.

"He's here, he's here. Why must he always get in my way?" a fat scientist in a red and black suit asked. He placed in a red gem into a console containing six more gems of differing colors.

"He doesn't get in your way Doctor Eggman. Shadow tries to stop you from doing all the horrible things you like to do." an anthroporphic rabbit said, holding onto her chao.

"Is that so? Well, he's to late to stop me this time." Doctor Eggman stated, showing the young girl his machine. "Since I inserted the last Chaos Emerald, My energy amplifier is invincible."

"But you can't do that! Shadow will stop you." Cream said.

"Oh I'd like to see him t-" But the doctor was cut off when the wall behind him blew open, in it's place a black hedgehog with red highlights on his eyebrows, quills, arms, and legs stood, his crimson eyes looking right at Eggman. "Sh-Shadow!" Eggman said nervously. Then he got a wicked smile, holding up a detonator. "Not a step closer. All I need is to push this button, so I've got a choice for you, hehe." Eggman challenged, Shadow scowling. "Stop me, or save young Cream here. It's your choice.

"Who says I can't do both?" Shadow asked. Eggman looked nervous, then cocky again.

"Why don't you just give it a try?" He challenged. Shadow cocked an eyebrow, then jumped as bullets flew at him. Moving around, Shadow made sure to steer clear of Cream, then got an idea. He landed in front of Eggman.

"W-wait! DON"T SHOOT!" Eggman yelled, but it was in vain. The robot fired and Shadow jumped, Eggman ducked. His Energy Amplifier was shot and his grip tightened, accidentally pushing the button. "Uh-Oh. HERE WE GO!" Eggman warned as a bright light showed.

Shadow was facing Cream, but turned just as the light enveloped him.

"Cream, look AWAY!" Shadow yelled, but his voice became distant as he blacked out.

.

 _"Ugh, my head."_ Shadow thought as he came to. He was laying face down in a black void. Picking himself up, he shook his head and looked around before hearing something behind him. He turned to see two bright lights heading his way. He jumped back, only to be in the way of more lights. He braced himself as everything came into color. What he saw...shocked him to say the least.

Shadow looked around, seeing all of the people staring in awe at him.

 _"What are they looking at?"_ He thought as two police officers arrived.

"What is that thing?"

"Looks like some sort of big...hedgehog?" The officers questioned themselves.

"Well whatever it is, we should get him out of here." One said, going down to one knee. "Hey buddy? wanna ride with us down to the station?" He asked Shadow, his partner asking if he knew what he was doing.

Shadow crossed his arms. "Do you realize how stupid you look?" Shadow asked.

"Whoa, he can talk?"

"Yeah, and he's got an attitude to boot."

"Now now gentlemen." The apparent sarge cut in. "I think we can handle this." He said, nodding to more officers, surrounding Shadow. "On my mark. Ready? NOW!" The sarge said as all the officers piled on to Shadow, only to realize they missed completely.

Shadow was standing on a car not far away, mocking them. "Hmph. To slow." Then he had a net put around him.

"I GOT HIIIAAAAAAHH!" a rookie yelled as Shadow took off, leaving everybody in a police car.

Shadow raced off into the highway, ducking through traffic when he noticed a spotlight on him. He continued on his way, seeing a barricade up ahead. Smiling to himself, Shadow jumped right over the police, continuing on his way. He turned, throwing a Chaos Spear and destroying the light on him before dashing off into the night unseen.

After running for awhile, Shadow sat down on a light pole, thinking to himself.

 _"Chaos Control sent me here. I wonder if anyone else was sent with me. Cream was with me when this happened, so it's likely she's around...I obviously traveled through space. Have I also traveled through time?"_ Shadow thought as he looked up to the moon, making up his mind. He hopped off the light, only to see more cars headed his way. Only these looked special.

"Hey there." The obvious leader stated, getting out of the vehicle. "You're a hard hog to keep up with." Shadow rolled his eyes and turned away. "Whoa, hold on. We don't get such fast company very often."

"Make your point, fast. I need to figure some things out." Shadow said.

"Ooh, straight to the chase. I like that."

"Loosing my patience."

"Point is, we're the fastest things around here. This town is peaceful because we take the hotshot's like you off the streets. So if you want to do this quietly, let's go. But if you think you're the fastest? Think again."

Engines revved, and Shadow knew that was his signal to bail. He turned and ran off, the formula cars keeping up with him. The cars chased after him, keeping up for a short while. They even tried to box him in. Tried to anyways. Shadow jumped and landed on one of their cars, riding it before hopping off in front before speeding up. He turned to see the cars slightly speed up, but knew they would never catch him. Shadow turned his head, seeing the cars separate before he had to step to the side to avoid getting hit.

.

"HAHAHA! The only way he'd win now, is if he went super sonic!" Sam cheered himself. But he heard something and turned his head, time seeming to stop as Shadow was next to him one moment before emitting a loud BOOM. "A SONIC BOOM! HE'S MOVING FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF SOUND!"

Shadow saw what was ahead. He was running out of road. Deciding to jump it, Shadow leaped off at the last second, soaring through the air.

"Well, that was almost fun." Shadow told himself as he turned to see a very displeased Sam. As he looked down though, he saw where he'd land. "A POOL!? Great." Shadow thought as he hit the water and sank to the bottom.

.

Inside the mansion, a girl with blonde hair looked up to see what made that noise. She went downstairs and outside to the family pool.

.

Try as he might, Shadow couldn't swim. He tried using his hover shoes, but he was running out of time. He needed to think

*SPLASH*

Shadow looked up as a human girl swam towards him, grabbing his hand and pulling him up out of the pool. Shadow hacked and sputtered out the water.

"Are you ok?" The girl asked. Shadow turned to her, thinking she was around sixteen.

"I'm fine." Shadow responded, spitting the water out.

"You can talk?" The girl asked shocked.

"Why is everyone so surprised by this? Of course I talk." Shadow said irritated.

"I'm sorry, it's just that...we don't have anything like you here." She said.

"You got a name?" Shadow asked.

"Maria...What's yours?" Maria greeted.

"Shadow the Hedgehog." Shadow returned, shaking her hand.


	2. Heads up

Ok, So in this story, Shadow has his Chaos Spear, only in a variety of ways to use it.

Chaos Needle: A dark violet spade shot in numerous amounts. Sonic and the Black Knight variant.

Chaos Spear: A green energy spear. Archie comics variant.

Chaos Flare: The explosive version used in Sonic x

I also won't do EVERY episode as some don't Have Shadow at all, and some just wouldn't work (Take the baseball episode for example.)

Just a friendly heads up to avoid confusion. See you guys next chapter


	3. A Reunion

Shadow stood, waiting on the roof as Maria was on the phone with her mom. She had somehow convinced him to stay the night to loose police, and he agreed to it. Now he wasn't so sure about the idea, bringing a human along. The last human he knew turned into an enemy. But here he was, waiting on a roof as Maria finished up a call and a butler brought food. He jumped down when the butler left and Maria hung up the phone.

"Is she always dramatic when saying she won't be around?" Shadow asked. Maria's face hardened before she took a breath. "She and dad are just...busy." Maria said. Shadow decided not to push the subject further.

"Anyways, where are you from Shadow?" Maria asked.

"A planet called Mobius. It's similar to this world, but humans aren't as numerous. People like me, Mobians, are the primary race. We can be all different species. Like a Fox or Rabbit for example." Shadow explained, Maria giving a confused nod.

"So, how did you end up here on earth?" Maria asked still curious.

"I'm still trying to figure that out myself. I think it has something to do with the Chaos Emeralds. Seven powerful gems of unknown origin. An enemy of mine gathered them all, and a massive Chaos Control happened." Shadow recalled. He looked at what was in the bowl, taking a piece before eating it only to spit it back out. "What was that?"

"Cat food. I read that most hedgehogs love cat food." Maria said a little deflated.

Shadow sighed. "I thank you for trying to help. But I can eat regular food to." Shadow said. Maria nodded as the two went inside, Shadow turning on the T.V. to see the news as people were recounting the events from last night. That's when the door burst open.

"GUYS, DID YOU SEE THE NEWS!?" An old man asked barging in. "Some big black hedgehog outran the S-team last night!" The old man said, then he noticed Shadow. He pulled out a screwdriver, but Shadow jumped up.

"Don't even think abou-" But Shadow was cut off by a familiar voice.

"Please, leave us alone!" He heard, looking to the T.V and saw Cream and Cheese cowering on a billboard.

"Where was that? I need to get there now!" Shadow demanded.

"Whoa, take it easy Shadow. They've probably already been moved elsewhere." Grandpa Chuck stated.

"Where?" Shadow asked.

"Shadow, are those friends of yours?" Maria asked concerned.

"If you want to call them that." Shadow said as the three moved to the garage. Chuck picked up the phone and made a call, trying to get details.

Shadow looked down, thinking on a memory of his. The last time someone like him was captured...He wasn't going to let that happen again.

"I thought they might do something like that." Chuck said, Shadow coming back to the present. "Thanks very much for giving me the scoop. Talk to you soon." Chuck said as he hung up. He looked at Shadow and Maria. "It looks like they've been taken to area 99."

"Area 99?" Maria asked. Shadow raised an eyebrow.

"It's a...complicated place. It's a secret base for military. They keep all of their unique projects there." Chuck explained.

"Sounds like I'll need to break in." Shadow said and Maria gave him a stern look.

"If you show up there, they'll attack you to. What good will that do?" Maria asked as Shadow moved towards the open door.

"Hmph, Let them try. I might even have to push myself a little." Shadow said arrogantly. But when he turned, the garage door had shut. He turned to see Maria giving him a look.

"I don't appreciate this attitude of yours. I understand you want to help your friends, but there's no need to do it alone." Maria told him. Shadow gave credit where credit was due, the girl had guts. Chuck put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"Shadow, how about we drive you as close as we can?" Chuck asked, Shadow reluctantly nodding. They got in the car and sped off, Maria looking like she was starting to have some fun for once. They finally came up to the base as Chuck gave Shadow an earpiece explaining what it does. Shadow nodded his thanks before jumping out and activating his shoes and blasting off.

.

 _"Don't worry Cream, I'm coming."_ Shadow thought as he came up to the base, jumping the fence. He ran around just under mach 1 to avoid any damage, but also to avoid detection. He saw an air vent, slowing himself down before jumping in. Landing on his feet, Shadow looked and saw all the lasers in the vents. "Guess they expected something like this." He thought, looking down and seeing the vent, no lasers under him.

Shadow pulled the vent open, jumping down and pressed his back to the wall checking to make sure he was clear in the corners. He heard the camera above him sweeping from side to side. He checked down the hall and saw more. If he timed it right, he should be able to avoid them. Dashing in a zigzag motion, Shadow made it to the end of the hallway and found the laboratory, but it was guarded by cameras and a security panel.

 _"Well, I was going to make myself known when I got her anyways."_ Shadow thought, stepping around the corner when the power suddenly went out. Taking his chance, Shadow burst through the door and smashed the glass, ducking into a corner with Cream and Cheese.

"Oh Shadow, Tha-" Cream was cut off when Shadow put his hand on her mouth, putting a finger on his lips to keep her quiet. Cheese hugged Shadow. Shadow rolled his eyes and pet Cheese.

"We need to get out of here. Hold onto me." Shadow told Cream. She grabbed hold and Shadow shot out the room as safely as he could.

"How'd you shut off all the electricity?" Cream asked.

"I didn't. I thought this would get a lot harder." Shadow said. He was just glad they had an easy escape route. Well, up until the power came back on. All the camera's turned towards them, a red light shining. "Damn it, let's go!" Shadow cursed under his breath. Putting Cream in a safe place, he fired off several Chaos Needles, blowing the camera's and lasers up. He grabbed Cream and ran for it, ducking under several doors along the way. He made it to a group of stairs leading up to their escape. Except there were several lasers in the way. He was getting up and dodging the stairs when they were split in half, cutting off escape. He could make that jump, but didn't want to risk Cream getting hit. Then, he heard something that gave him hope. A familiar sounding engine. Shadow shot a Chaos Flare at the wall, blowing it to pieces and jumped out, landing on the wings of a familiar biplane.

"Good save Tails." Shadow said, Tails smiling and nodding.

"Thanks Shadow. We need to find a place to stay." Tails said, Shadow explaining Maria. He didn't like the idea, but it was the only one he had. Everyone met up at Maria's house.

"Thank you for saving us Shadow." Cream said, thanking him properly this time.

"You're welcome." Shadow said quickly. He could put up with Cream if only because she was polite and just a kid. She didn't deserve to be in this mess.

Chuck and Tails were geeking out together, and Shadow smiled a little. At least Tails has his tech buddy." Shadow thought when he turned to see Maria giving him that look again.

"Shadow, you could've gotten captured or hurt. What would you have done then?" Maria asked.

"Fought my way out, no problem." Shadow responded simply.

"With Cream and Cheese?" Shadow had to admit, it would've been harder with both Cream and Cheese, but nothing that he couldn't handle. Tails stepped in to switch the subject.

"Guys, we have to face the possibility we aren't the only ones here. Eggman was inside that Chaos Control to, right?" Tails asked, Shadow nodding and understanding what that meant.

.

 _An island, far off the coast._

"So, now I get to conquer this world to..." Eggman said menacingly.


	4. Rampage through the city

"Hmmm." Eggman thought, looking at this new world he was in. "This planet's technology seems primitive to our own. Taking over should be easy." He planned as one of his robots brought him his "cards." Looking through them, Eggman placed them into a container to see all the best possibilities for this mission. He may be an evil genius, but he had to many inventions to choose just one. His computer found the perfect one, project "Missile Wrist". "Out of all my creations, this has to be my best one yet." Eggman stated, patting his computer.

.

Meanwhile, under the sewer, Knuckles and Amy were walking along.

"This whole thing is Shadow's fault." Knuckles grumbled.

"He was just trying to stop Eggman, he didn't mean for this to happen." Amy tried defending.

"Even if Robotnik is to blame, Shadow pushed to far this time." Knuckles stated.

"Shadow's just willing to stop Eggman no matter what." Amy said stubbornly.

"Shadow get's into fights with him for his own personal vendetta, nothing more." Knuckles countered. The two continued onward, Knuckles even threatening to leave Amy if she didn't want to follow anymore.

Meanwhile on the Beach, the Missile Wrist had started it's attack.

.

Maria walked out of her house, looking around. She saw Cream, Cheese, and Tails, but hadn't seen Shadow anywhere. She went up to Tails, asking about Shadow.

"He left this morning on a run somewhere." Cream said.

"But...if the police see Shadow, they might catch him." Maria said, worried.

"I wouldn't worry about that. Shadow's pretty quick. Besides, exploring is one of the few things he likes to do since..." Tails trailed off.

"Tails? What happened to Shadow?" Maria asked. "Why is he always so serious?"

"It's...complicated. It's best if Shadow tells you when he's ready." Tails said, switching his focus back to his plane and started his techno babble with Chuck. Cream invited Maria over for tea, and with the way Cream said it, Maria just couldn't say no.

.

In the mountains, Shadow stands proud, a confident smile on his face. The mountains here felt more like home than the mansion. Sure, it was nice, but it wasn't his style. Shadow Liked the open air, freedom. Even for only for a few moments, he could relax. He then brought his thoughts to Maria. Sure, she was nice enough, but seemed like she might get in the way. He wondered if it would be better to keep his distance. He could use a place to stay, but that wouldn't be fair. He sighed, deciding it would be best to go back. Something always seemed to happen when he was gone.

.

Tails had gotten the Tornado ready to fly. He saw on the T.V that Eggman was making his move. But before he could take off, Maria hopped into the back telling him she was coming along. Tails shrugged, confident his skills could keep them safe. They took off for downtown, easily finding the robot.

Tails fired, but to no avail. He was able to dodge a lot of shots towards him, but one lucky shot hit the propeller.

"Tails!" Maria started panicking as they headed down.

"Don't worry, I got this." Tails said confidently, pulling a lever and the Tornado transformed into an X shape. Tails was put on the defensive, unable to line a shot.

.

Shadow was blasting back to Maria's home, going through meadows and towns in a dark yellow streak. He stopped and backed up behind a panicking crowd, jumping over to see the rampage Robotnik was on.

"I knew it." Shadow said grimly, taking off back to the town.

It didn't take him long as when he got there, he saw Tails and Maria in the Tornado's jet mode engaged in the battle. He shot towards the building, Missile Wrist tossing Amy behind and aiming for Shadow, firing missile out of it's chest. Shadow quick stepped out of the way, dodging them all as he shot into the air.

"Kill HIM!" Robotnik shouted, Missile Wrist firing into the air. Shadow dodged and jumped off the wrists, unable to get in close without getting hit.

"Shadow! Give him a slap on the wrist!" Knuckles yelled, Shadow understanding. He grabbed hold of one of the missiles, getting close and standing up crossing his arms.

"Is it true your processor is as slow as your attacks?" Shadow taunted. Missile Wrist brought up his other arm, bringing it down. Shadow jumped out of the way as Missile Wrist destroyed it's arm. _"Time to end this."_ Shadow thought, taking off his wrist rings and engulfing himself in energy. He shot down and shattered right through Missile Wrists armor, destroying the robot. Standing back up, Shadow put his rings back on, turning and facing the Doctor. "Next?" Shadow asked, Robotnik deciding to fall back for now.

Amy came up to hug Shadow, but he put his arm up and stopping her with his hand on her head. He and Knuckles locked eyes before the government got to the building, opening fire. Shadow grabbed Amy's arm and ran to the edge of the building, jumping for a ladder thanks to Maria. Knuckles followed shortly after.

"We can head back to my house!" Maria yelled over the air.

"Cream and Cheese are already waiting for us there." Tails added.

"Not me. So long." Knuckles said, letting go of the ladder and gliding away.

"Why did he...?" Maria trailed off.

"Knuckles does things his own way." Shadow reminded himself. He looked on, watching the sun.


	5. The First Emerald

A few days had passed since everyone started living at Maria's mansion. Shadow had gone off exploring again saying he wouldn't be long, Tails had been making new ideas for a few machines with Chuck, while Amy, Cream, Cheese, and Maria had become friends.

"So...I understand a wormhole happened, but what are these Chaos Emeralds anyways?" Maria asked. She was't satisfied with Shadow's brief explanation.

"Each Emerald is filled with a magical power." Amy explained. "So you can imagine what happens when all seven are gathered."

Chuck turned his chair around. "But no one has found them all, and now it's improbable that anybody will."

"Why's that?" Cream asked.

"Well, they seem to have disappeared."

"That doesn't mean anything." Shadow said, everyone turning to him. "Everyone near that base was sucked into the Chaos Control. I'm willing to bet that includes the Emerald themselves." Shadow guessed.

"But...without a way to track them it could take awhile." Tails said.

"Then we'll just have to keep our ears to the ground." Maria said confidently. "We'll get you guys back to your own world, no problem."

Shadow looked back at her. She seemed determined to get him and everyone else back home...Maybe this isn't some adventure for her.

"You really should get ready for school." Chuck told Maria.

"But, Grandpa! I already know most of the things they teach! you taught them to me." Maria complained.

"Hmhmhm, I know. But it's still a policy we have to go through." Chuck explained, Maria leaving to get her bag.

.

The day went by pretty uneventful, especially for Maria. The classes were boring and she quickly lost interest in today's lesson. The only news that interested her was the new teacher, Mr. Stewart, but only because he was new. She stared out the window, hoping to pass the time when she saw the Tornado flying by. She gasped, thinking she had to do something.

"Excuse me, I need to do something really quick!" Maria said as she barged out the door. All the other students looked at each other and shrugged.

"I think I need to step out to. Study quietly." Mr. Stewart said before leaving.

Maria followed the Tornado on her bike, thinking she might be able to help.

.

(A few hours earlier)

"Shadow, they found one!" Cream said, finding Shadow and explaining what she saw on the news.

Shadow got the message, taking off for the construction yard...wherever that was.

Tails and Amy got in the Tornado to follow him, hoping he knew where he was going.

.

(Present time)

"I need to get higher." Shadow thought as he shot towards the sky, climbing up a pillar. He scanned the area, seeing the Tornado come into view.

"Shadow! It's over there!" Amy pointed. Shadow turned around, seeing the construction yard. He nodded and shot back down to the rooftops, determined to get that Emerald. He looked in the distance, seeing Robotnik.

"I won't let you have it Doctor." Shadow told himself, racing forward but was cut off by a bird mech that launched him into the air.

"Hold on Shadow!" Tails said as he veered the plane to help Shadow.

Shadow twisted in the air to grab hold of the Mech's back. They shot off into the sky, Tails and Amy close behind.

.

Eggman stepped out of his "Egg mobile" towards the green Chaos Emerald before him. But as he reached down, a hand swiped it away.

"What the-?" He said, looking over to see Maria making a run for it. "Why you little brat!" He yelled towards her.

Maria turned a corner, taking a breather. She opened her hands to stare at the Chaos Emerald she had, marveling at it. Before she could do anything else, a claw came down and grabbed the gem away from her.

"Hey! Give it back!" Maria said running after Eggman.

"You wouldn't know what to do with this even if I did let you keep it, hehe!" Eggman said, taking off. But Maria wasn't going to quit.

She jumped and grabbed onto the claw just in time...before realizing her mistake as she was now miles from the ground. She started to climb up, eventually getting to the cockpit. Eggman saw her and swerved his ride around, trying to throw her off. Maria lost her grip but found a new one...Eggman's mustache. She held on and wouldn't let go. As she was crawling in, Maria's hand found the Emerald in it's slot.

"I've had just about enough of you!" Eggman stated, punching Maria and causing her to loose her grip, falling all the way down.

.

Whatever this bird was made of, it was strong. Shadow couldn't seem to get through it no matter what he tried. They were moving to fast for his Chaos Needles, he didn't have enough room for Chaos Spear, and Chaos Flare would hurt if he used it this close. Tails wasn't having much luck either in the Tornado.

"Shadow!" Tails yelled, Shadow looking over. "Use Chaos Flare and jump off!" Tails yelled. Shadow thought about it for a moment. It wasn't the safest plan, but a plan none the less. He jumped off slightly, sending yellow shards into one focused area and blowing a hole into the birds back. As he was falling, Tails caught him on the Tornado's wings before shooting into the hole, destroying the mech.

"Good call Tails." Shadow nodded. They looked over at the construction sight and Saw Maria was taking a ride. "TAILS STEP ON IT!" Shadow yelled, hurrying to get to Maria before something bad happened.

As they drew near, Maria fell off the Egg mobile, headed towards the ground. "Get beside her Tails." Shadow ordered. Tails nodded, getting the plane in position before Shadow curled into his spin dash and launched himself off, catching Maria mid-air. He held her head tightly to his chest as he slid down the side of a building, using his hover shoes to try and slowing them down. He launched off and hit the ground running to burn off the impact before he came to a stop away from people. He looked at Maria in his arms before setting her upright.

Maria shook her head, feeling a little dizzy from how fast they were going.

"What were you thinking Maria!?" Shadow yelled. He wanted an answer, and he wanted it now. "That man is not to be messed with. You almost died."

Maria looked away a little bit, then back at Shadow. She looked him in the eye before standing up and smirking, revealing the Chaos Emerald in her hands. Shadow looked stunned to say the least.

"I did get the Chaos Emerald though. I know the risks Shadow. But you need to get home. And I'll do what I can to help." Maria said.

Shadow sighed. "Thank you. But promise me this, no more stunts like this. Understood?" Maria nodded, handing Shadow the Chaos Emerald. "Good. Let's get home. You've had enough excitement for one day." Shadow said as they left for Maria's Mansion.

.

"Now that we have one, we just need 6 more." Cream pointed out excited.

"That's right Cream." Amy confirmed.

"I'm not sure we should keep it here." Chuck pointed out. "It might have an effect on my equipment."

"No worries." Tails said. "If anything goes wrong, I'll fix them."

"Well...alright." Chuck agreed as everyone chuckled.

Maria looked over at Shadow who was staring out the window. She went up to talk to him, but decided against it. She stared out with him. "Despite taking a risk," Shadow started, catching Maria by surprise. "You did good." Shadow complimented. Maria was shocked. A Compliment? From Shadow? "Just remember not to make a habit out out of it." Ah, there's the Shadow she barely knew. She smiled and nodded, both of them staring at the horizon.


	6. Bare Knuckled Brawl

A news paper flew through the air, hitting the leg of one Knuckles the Echidna. He grabbed it, seeing a photo of Shadow and Robotnik. He sighed, letting the paper fly away in the wind. Then, just in the corner of his eye, he saw movement. Knuckles stood up ready to fight, only to see

"Robotnik." Knuckles growled. However, Eggman collapsed in front of him sobbing.

"Please, you have to help me Knuckles!" He pleaded. "If we don't do something fast, Shadow will keep us stuck on this planet forever!" Knuckles cocked an eyebrow at this. "If we gather all the Chaos Emeralds, we may be able to reverse the effects of Chaos Control. You know how Shadow is. He won't let anything stand in his path. I gathered the seven Chaos Emeralds just to keep them away from him! But there was no stopping Shadow. He was determined to go all the way this time, even if Cream got hurt! Finally, Shadow damaged the Chaos Emeralds and sent us off here, just for his feud with me!"

"Shadow always was a loose cannon." Knuckles agreed, his frustration blinding him.

"I figured if we collect all the Chaos Emeralds I can find a way back home, but Shadow won't let me. He took one of my Emeralds and said he'd never let me have them. He can't even properly use them! I can, but Shadow won't let me."

"That egotistical HOG!" Knuckles yelled. Eggman smirked at this. "I'm sick of Shadow making everything about himself. If he won't give us the Emerald, then I'll just take it from him." Knuckles announced.

 _"Looks like my troubles with Shadow are over."_ Robotnik thought.

.

Back at Maria's home, she, Tails, and Chuck were all admiring the Chaos Emerald. Chuck had been trying to get readings on it, but it was taking some time to do. They heard a knock on the door. They turned and started panicking.

"MARIA!" A voice called out. "I know you're in there! I haven't clean that room in so long I've missed the DIRT ALERT!"

"Oh no, it's Ella. Quick Tails, hide!" Maria hushed. Tails looked around finding no place. As the door opened, he jumped onto a bean bag and went completely limp.

A woman came up, looking around as Maria and Chuck put on their best poker face...even if they were bad.

"I thought I'd find you two up here." Ella said. Maria turnedand acted as if she just noticed Ella walk in and said hi. Ella wasn't exactly sure what was going on as she looked around and started vacuuming. "Keeping this room dust free seems to be a loosing battle. Not that I'm complaining, but it's like cleaning a dirt road. I-" Ella said, noticing the new "Stuffed animal" and perked up. Chuck and Maria got really nervous. "It's so precious! Is it yours?" Ella asked.

"Well...I'm taking care of him for someone..." Maria nervously spoke a half truth.

"It almost looks real to me." Ella said with joy, but she could've sworn the eyes moved. Before she could question it, Maria grabbed tails and ran for it, saying she'd be outside. Chuck followed, leaving a very confused Ella.

.

With Tails on her back, Maria ran alongside her Gandpa.

"We sure fooled her, hahaha." Chuck said laughing.

"I'll say." Maria said as she giggled a little. However it was short lived when they bumped into a tall man in a dark suit.

"Master Maria...what may I ask is going on?" The man asked.

"Uh..., Mr. Tanaka!" Maria hesitated for an explanation as Tails went limp again. "We were playing...capture the stuffed animal, hehehehe." Maria nervously stated as she moved out of the way, Tanaka not believing it.

"I think I'll-" Chuck tried, but was cut off.

"Sir, while I admire your desire to stay fit, I would stick to adult sports like bowling." Tanaka suggested.

"You can't tell me what to do!" Chuck said crossing his arms. "I'll play ring around the rosy if I-"

Tanaka got in Chucks face. "Perhaps you should slow down. Rest is important, and it's time for your nap." Tanaka dragged a denying Chuck away as Maria and Tails sighed. Well, right up until they were bumped by Amy.

"Amy, what are you doing out here?" Maria asked.

"I just saw a news report. It looks like they found another Chaos Emerald!" Amy said quickly. The three went inside, seeing the news on Silver Valley. Maria described it as best she could, saying it wasn't very far from where they were.

"Yes, let's." The three heard, turning to see Shadow in the doorway. "Tails, you and Maria can go in the Tornado. I'll get Amy there." Shadow said, Tails and Maria nodding as Amy smirked.

Maria thought for a minute, looking at Shadow before getting an idea. "Shadow, I bet we can get there first." Maria challenged.

Shadow looked over at her. "This isn't a race. We need the Chaos Emerald." He said simply, deflating Maria a little. They took off towards Silver Valley, Tails speaking up.

"Don't mind him Maria. He means well, but he doesn't have much in the way of fun anymore." Tails said. Maria nodded.

"Was he always like that?" She asked. Tails stayed quiet. "It's best if he tells me himself." Maria concluded and Tails nodding. They reached Silver Valley in no time at all, splitting up to cover more ground.

As Shadow walked along, he saw Knuckles on top of a mountain, and Knuckles was looking right at him as if challenging him. Shadow never backed down from a challenge and shot up the mountain.

"Well, look who decided to show up." Knuckles stated.

"What are you talking about?" Shadow asked.

"Give me the Chaos Emerald Shadow." Knuckles demanded.

"You're joking, right? Why would I give it to you?" Shadow responded.

"So that Robotnik can find a way home. I don't care what happened between you two. Put it aside and hand over that Emerald, or I'll take it from you." Knuckles threatened.

Shadow sighed. "If you want a beating that badly, BRING IT!" Shhadow accepted the challenge as he and Knuckles ran towards each other.

.

Maria, Tails, and Amy had no luck in finding anything and took a break by the lake.

"Maybe it was a mistake after all." Maria stated.

"Oh well, at least we got this nice view." Tails added.

"We should've brought a picnic or something." Amy joked, the three laughing before something burst out of the water. A shovel was brought down and captured the three of them, putting them in the glass center of a massive dark pink robot. Eggman descended in front of them.

"Eggman." Maria said, Eggman doing a mocking laugh. "You...you tricked them into that story."

Eggman waved his hand from side to side. "I generated artificial energy spikes, just like the ones made by Chaos Emeralds. It isn't MY fault the news reporters got it wrong."

"Well you're plan FAILED because we're out of here!" Amy yelled, taking out her hammer and slamming away at the glass. But no matter how hard she hit it, the glass wouldn't break.

"It'll take a lot more than that to break out Amy. Besides, I need you three in case my actual plan backfires." Eggman stated, looking over to where Knuckles would be.

.

Knuckles threw a punch, Shadow barely dodging. Shadow ran backwards as Knuckles went after him, shattering rocks when Shadow dodged his hard hitting punches. Knuckles looked up to see Shadow on a ledge not far from him.

"I must say, you've gotten sloppy. Normally you would've come close to hitting me by now." Shadow mocked.

Knuckles ran after him as Shadow jumped forward and over Knuckles. But Knuckles prepared for it, grabbing Shadow's leg and hurling him into the ground. Getting up quickly, Shadow slammed into Knuckles with his spin dash, knocking he brawler back. Knuckles got back up and tackled Shadow off the edge, the two rolling down into a shallow creek.

"BACK OFF!" Shadow yelled, firing Chaos Needles at Knuckles. Knuckles couldn't dodge them and took them. They were meant to hurt, but not kill. "I'm done playing games Knuckles. Stop this now before someone gets hurt!"

"I'm not stopping until I find a way back home. NOW GIVE ME THAT EMERALD!" Knuckles yelled.

Shadow was about to retort until an explosion caught his attention. He turned his head in that direction and Knuckles took that opportunity to strike and Shadow flew into the air. He looked over and saw...

"Robotnik." Shadow scowled before landing and taking off.

"GET BACK HERE COWARD!" Knuckles yelled.

 _"We'll settle this later."_ Shadow thought before meeting Robotnik.

.

"What have you done!?" Eggman yelled as his machine had one massive hole in it. Suddenly, a yellow blur streaked by in front of them, then under taking out the robot's legs.

Shadow skid to a stop, looking behind him as everyone crawled out. "Are you guys ok?"

"We're fine, thanks Shadow." Maria nodded.

"My robot might be down, but it certainly isn't out!" Robotnik roared as the robot flipped itself, standing on what used to be the top part as small turrets came out and opened fire at Shadow. Shadow jumped back, sending out Chaos Needles, but they did no good. He couldn't used a Spear or Flare for fear of hurting everyone. But an unexpected help came in Knuckles as he smashed a few of the turrets.

"This is between me and Shadow! STAY OUT OF IT!" Knuckles warned.

"If you want a clean fight, then I'm going to start playing dirty." Robotnik responded as his robot flew away to the other side of the lake.

"I don't get it." Knuckles pondered out loud. "All Robotnik wanted was to go home..."

"And you didn't think to wonder if he would just as soon take over this world?" Shadow asked. Knuckles growled at himself for being foolish.

"Shadow!" Robotnik cut in to get Shadow's attention. "We all know you can't swim, so I put your friends over there! Surrender that Chaos Emerald to me, or they'll get hurt."

"We'll see about that." Shadow challenged as he shot forward, activating his skate and gliding across the water and knocking Robotnik's mech over again. He helped everyone up, keeping an eye on Maria. Humans weren't as durable as Mobians. As the four were walking away, the robot stood back off.

"That does it, FIRE EVERYTHING!" Robotnik ordered. Missiles started flying as the group ran for cover before Knuckles stepped in, nodding at Shadow who nodded back.

Knuckles ran forward, side stepping and dodging the bullets and missiles before making it to the Robot. He climed up to reach the Egg Mobile and hit with all he could, landing and striking with an impact so hard the Robot blew apart. Shadow ran forward against the wave created, grabbing Knuckle's wrist and keeping him down. When everything had subsided, Knuckles and Shadow looked at each other before everyone else came, relieved to see the two alive.

"Knuckles and I had a bit of a..." Shadow looked at Knuckles. "Misunderstanding. But I think we solved the problem. Right?"

"Right." Knuckles said as he walked away. He put his hand up, saying his goodbye's before he disappeared into the woods.


	7. Clearing the air

Ok, so some questions I want to answer before they're asked or even after. This is the chapter I'll answer what I can without spoiling anything.

Age: A few characters have a different age than normal to better suit a few things. They don't change much in the way of story, but this is the differences.

Shadow is 17

Tails is 12

Amy is 14

Shadow's age is just something I decided on myself. Tails was 12 in the Archie Comics just before the whole Genesis Collapse event (In the show, he was like 8). Amy I can't remember from the show, so I just went with 14. I originally intended Tails to be 15, but decided on 12 to keep him a kid.

Maria: Maria is replacing Chris entirely in this show, making her Maria Thoryndike (However you spell that). She's 16. I wanted to use her as let's face it, Shadow is incomplete without Maria and I didn't want to use Chris. My only hope is she won't be irritating.

The other characters are the same age.

I also had the idea to replace Amy with Blaze the Cat, but didn't for two reasons.  
1\. I'm not comfortable enough with her to stick her in with this series. I am using her in a different fic of mine along with Tails and Knuckles, along with Sonic.  
2\. Blaze is to much like Shadow. Blaze is quiet, serious, and tends to keep to herself. In other words, She would eventually become a female version of Shadow. Just not as cold.

And one last thing: Robotnik/Eggman. They are the exact same character, just called different from a viewpoint. Tails, Amy, Cream, and Maria know him as Eggman, while Shadow and Knuckles refer to him in a more serious manner, thus calling him his actual name.

I don't intend to do EVERY episode. A lot of the filler I'll skip but I will keep a few that makes sense for development. The baseball episode I'm not going to write. I'll tell you a chapter before-hand how that will go down as I know it involves a Chaos Emerald. So, now you know if I "miss" a chapter.

The "Shadow Saga" I don't know if I will do. I have an idea of how that can play out, but nothing solid just yet. Same with Season 3.

and this is a small bit, but needs to be said. Mobius is the planet everyone lives on in the comics. So all of the Sonic characters (No human ones anyways) are called Mobians.

I hope this cleared a few things up for you guys, and I'll see you next time. If you have anymore questions, PM me. And if you think a character is being annoying or think could be written better, tell me. I want to make a story that people will enjoy after all. I do try to respond to everyone, but sometimes I'm not given the option.


	8. Party Hog

Maria had been absolutely ecstatic. Her parents phoned in yesterday saying they would stop by on a visit. They even planned a party today, but she still had to go to school. She left in a hurry. Shadow noticed this change in her behavior, asking what her parents did when she left the room.

"Well, her father is president of a huge company, and her mother is a movie star. They both have pretty busy schedules." Chuck explained.

"They must not be home very much..." Tails said.

"We'll make sure to stay out of the way." Shadow confirmed.

Chuck nodded, apologizing since they had to stay hidden. He left the room to help set up for the party.

The time passed by and Shadow had dozed off, catching up on sleep he'd lost. Amy and Tails stared off until they heard laughter. The two looked outside to see Cream picking flowers.

"We need to get her inside." Amy said worried.

"Do we have to? She probably just misses her mom." Tails said. Shadow cracked an eye open.

"Of course she does. I just wish we could cheer her up." Amy responded.

Shadow looked at a wall and saw a poster showing a place full of flowers. He gave it a little thought before he walked up and grabbed the poster. "I'm heading out. Give her another few minutes before getting her inside." Shadow told them as they nodded.

.

The day seemed to inch along for Maria. But finally, the bell had rung for her final class to end. She slammed her locker shut as she dashed out the school, getting on her bike and riding as fast as she could home.

.

Shadow searched the mountainside, looking for the location on the poster. Rolling it back up, Shadow blast off into the mountains looking high and low until he found it. He smirked a little as he went down, snatching an entire bouquet. He turned before blowing away back to the house.

.

"I'm home!" Maria yelled out as she walked into the door.

"How was school, Ms. Maria?" Tanaka asked.

"It was fine, thanks for asking." Maria responded with a smile, looking around. "Where's uh...Where's mom and dad?"

"Oh you're home!" Mrs. Thorndyke exclaimed, embracing her daughter.

"Hey mom." Maria said, hugging back. "Apparently, one of my teachers is a huge fan."

"Oh that reminds me, what are we going to wear!? I should've had the designers send something over." Mrs. Thorndyke said.

"I'm sure we'll find something in our closets." Maria laughed off.

"I pity dogs." The two heard, looking over at the stairs and seeing Chuck walk down the stairs in nice clothes, messing with his bow tie. "How do they stand it, this collar is KILLING me."

"Hey Grandpa, what's with the nice clothes?" Maria asked as she knew her grandfather HATED formal wear.

"Mr. Tanaka sid that I couldn't wear my lab coat to the party." Chuck wined. Maria giggled a little bit before asking if Shadow and the other know to stay hidden until everyone is gone. Chuck nodded but then noticed something...Cream and Cheese decorating. The two of them freaked out a little when they heard Mrs. Thorndyke headed their way. They blocked off the exit, waving their arms around.

"Is everything alright?" Ms. Thorndyke asked.

"Yep, everything is fine." Maria said nervously as she turned her mom around. "You know how time fly's when you're putting on make-up. Plus, you need to find the perfect dress and all. Let me and Grandpa worry about everything else?" Maria spoke about a million words a minute. Luckily, she convinced her mom to leave. Maria and Chuck sighed as they turned around. Maria went up to Cream, but the door started opening and Maria hid Cream and herself behind the couch as Ella walked by.

"Cream, what are you doing out here? You need to hide." Maria said in a half panic.

"But I wanted to help out with the party." Cream said a bit sad.

"Master Maria understands." The two heard and Maria went just a little pale. She looked up to see Mr. Tanaka. "It is very thoughtful for you to help us get ready Cream." He said.

"Mr. Tanaka, you KNOW?" Maria asked.

"I found out about them not long ago." Tanaka confirmed. He also promised to help keep everyone a secret for now. But when Maria looked down, Cream had wandered off again.

As Cream was walking around, she came across the kitchen with several things left half made.

"Maybe I could help with the food?" Cream wondered as she walked up and pressed a button on the blender, making it go haywire. She ran as fast as she could, a green slush flying everywhere. Maria went to check, worried for Cream and Cheese but only found Ella taking cover from the food she was making.

.

Mrs. Thorndyke had just finished putting on her earrings to match her red dress. "This should do. At least for my entrance." she said out loud when suddenly the phone rang. "Hello? Yes, it's me." She responded to her casting agent. "What's that? The STARRING ROLE? I'll catch the next plane." She said excited, then restrained herself. "Actually, I'm having a party here with my daughter. I'm afraid I'll have to leave tomorrow morning." She said sternly, not noticing Cream and Cheese walking by. "Oh...we start on site tomorrow morning...I know, you can't put a million dollar production on hold for a party. I'll leave immediately." She said hanging up. "I'm sorry...Maria." She said quietly into her hands. Cream had a saddened look on her face as she walked away.

.

Maria ran around the house hectically, searching for Cream when she thought that maybe she went back with Tails and Amy. As she left the door, Ella came into the room searching for Maria, but couldn't find her anywhere.

 _"Oh, the poor girl..."_ Ella thought. She left out the front to give the news to Mrs. Thorndyke.

"Please, tell Maria how sorry I am, as well to my brother Sam." Mrs. Thorndyke asked, Ella saying not to worry. "Call me if she needs anything." She said before getting in the car and leaving, a single tear heading down her cheek.

.

"Cream! Cheese!?" Maria asked as she opened the room everyone was supposed to be staying in, but only found Chuck, Tails, and Amy. Maria started to freak out just a bit before Chuck told everyone to split up and find them. Maria went back downstairs to see Ella with a worried expression.

"What's wrong Ella?" Maria asked.

"Ms. Maria, I'm sorry to say this-I tried to find you earlier but...You're mother had to leave to shoot for an important role." Ella said nervously.

"Wh-what!?" Maria asked a little heart broken and deflated.

"She wanted you to know how sorry she was an-" Ella was cut off.

"No, I get it Ella. Thanks for telling me." Maria said with a brave face, but everything sounded empty. "I better head up to my room to get ready." Maria said as she walked up the stairs, a tear falling down her face. When she got to her room, the door was shut with just a little more force than she anticipated, but she didn't care. She sat down on her bed and wiped away the tears that started to flow.

.

Ella watched as the young girl left up the stairs, feeling sorry for her. Sure, she had this nice house, but what was it without her mother and father? Her father only stayed last night and left for business that morning, but her mother was supposed to stay. The whole party was Mrs. Thorndyke's plan after all. Then, she heard a crash outside. She looked to see Chuck and a broken pot.

"I don't know what you're up to, but you better be on your best behavior. Maria just found out her mother left, so watch it buster." Ella warned.

"I better go talk to her then." Chuck said as he climbed in the window, saying any entrance was good.

At that moment, Shadow just got back with all the flowers he'd gathered, pointing Cream towards the house they were hiding in.

"Oh wow. Shadow went out and gathered those just for me." Cream said walking into plain view of Ella as Chuck put his face in hand. Ella picked the young girl up. "You can have some flowers to if you want..." Cream said a little worried. That was when Maria came back down in a flowing dark blue dress...and saw Cream and Cheese in Ella's arms.

"E-Ella! I've been looking all over for that!" Maria said as she took Cream in her arms. Then her Uncle came in, asking where the party was. "Uncle Sam! you made it!" Maria exclaimed, happy to see her carefree Uncle.

"You know it! Now where's that sis of mine?" Sam asked. He always did enjoy teasing his little sister when given the chance, if only to have a bit of fun.

"She left for a movie shoot...apparently." Maria said disappointed.

"Oh...sorry to hear that. But hey! The party just arrived, amIright?" Sam said quickly to change the subject. He wasn't as blind as he let on.

"It's ok. Besides, I'm used to it by now, hehehe." Maria fake laughed, but Cream broke free.

"Your mom felt very badly when she had to leave. She even tried to find you before she left. You're lucky you could talk to her anytime on the phone, I can't do that!" Cream yelled before running off and everyone had a stunned look on their face.

"I've been practicing my ventriliquanism for weeks now. I must say, I'm not half bad." Tanaka said quickly before Amy and Tails burst through the other door to chase Cream down.

"I'm seeing more of them now." Ella nearly fainted, only for Chuck to grab her asking to dance. That's when Shadow came in.

"Enough." He said, everyone turning to see him. "The games over, it's time they knew about us." Shadow announced before catching eye contact with Sam. "Hmph, I see the slow poke made it."

"Slow poke!? Why you-" Sam yelled as he tried to tackles Shadow, but Shadow moved out of the way.

"Hmhmhmhmhm." Shadow chuckled to himself. He then proceeded to explain everything from the day he got to earth, muttering the bit with the pool. He also explained Robotnik and his battle with him.

"Well, that's a cool story." Sam said as he got up. "Hey Shadow, we'll have to race one day, but I gotta fly." Sam challenged before hopping in his car and speeding off. Everything had settled down and everyone introduced themselves. Cream had even helped Ella clean up after that whole blender incident. Shadow and Maria watched from around the corner.

"Now that Ella knows of us, it should make things a little more relaxed for everyone." Shadow said and Maria nodded before heading up to her room. Shadow followed her up, asking what was wrong.

"Well, it's just that Cream got so mad when I said I was used to my mom leaving. I didn't even think how she feels. I just hope she forgives me." Maria explained.

"I wouldn't worry to much." Shadow said as Maria looked at him surprised. "Cream couldn't find a way to hold a grudge even if she tried."

The two heard humming coming from outside the door and Cream walked in with a flower necklace and bracelet. She gave the necklace to Maria and the bracelet to Shadow. Shadow also quietly asked something and Cream nodded before leaving.

"You should feel lucky. Cream only does this for people she likes." Shadow explained.

"I didn't think you wore flower stuff." Maria asked.

"She's hard to say no to." Shadow said as he motioned for Maria to follow. She raised an eyebrow before following Shadow downstairs and into the main room.

"SURPRISE!" Everyone yelled. Maria looked stunned to say the least.

"We set up for a party, and dang it we're going to have one!" Chuck announced. Maria laughed, an actual joyful laugh to. They weren't her parents, but they were family. And she had a good one.


	9. Sky's the Limit

Things had been pretty calm ever since Ella found out about Shadow and crew. It helped that everyone got to go out and not have to worry so much about getting caught. Cream and Cheese were watching this weird show, but they seemed to enjoy it. Maria was sitting next to Tails watching the two dance as Amy and Ella brought in pies.

"Snack time everyone." Ella said with Amy close behind.

"Ella showed me how to make Apple Pie." Amy said as she and Ella put the two pies down on the coffee table.

"I think Amy has a nack for baking. If I'm not careful, I'll be out of a job." Ella said in a joking manner.

"I wonder if Shadow will want a piece..." Amy thought out loud looking outside.

Tails ran out of patience. "Well, you guys can share that one cause this one is mine." He said as he reached for one of the pies, but Amy smacked his hand away.

"You'll share that mister, or no pie for you." Amy said sternly and Tails chuckled while scratching the back of his head. Suddenly, the T.V went out, right in the middle of Creams dance.

"Don't worry Cream, just watch." Maria said as she clicked a button on the remote...and nothing happened. "Ok, we might have a problem..."

Cream teared up and started to cry, and Shadow came inside to see what was wrong. "Cream and Cheese are upset because the T.V went out..." Maria explained.

Shadow rolled his eyes. _"Tch, children."_ He thought. It didn't get much better when everyone else saying what show they would miss. Shadow simply shook his head and walked away, but something outside caught his eye. A small creature that he recognized as Robotnik's message delivery, Bokune. Bokune got a T.V monitor out of the little yellow bag and evryone except Shadow ran for cover.

"Not even a hello? Rude." Bokun asked.

"Get to the point runt." Shadow said quickly with Bokun turning on the monitor and shadow saw-"Robotnik"

"Hello Shadow. I'm sorry we haven't fought i awhile, but I've been pretty busy you see?" Robotnik stated, showing a feed of a giant green robot with the face of a bird sucking up satellite parts. "Don't get any funny ideas Shadow. I highly doubt you could reach up here anyways." Robotnik gloated. Shadow grabbed the monitor.

"We'll see about that." Shadow spoke as he threw the monitor a few yards, telling Bokun that he'd be next unless he left. Bokun left on his own. "Tails, let's fly." Shadow said and Tails nodding, the two of them running to get into the tornado.

They took to the sky, but Tails was worried about something. Shadow noticed this, asking what was wrong.

"Well, I don't know if the Tornado can reach as high as it needs to..." Tails voiced his concern. Shadow nodded in understanding.

"It'll have to. We need to stop Robotnik from destroying more equipment." Shadow responded as the E-90 robot came into view. But as soon as they got in range, a laser was fired from E-90 and Tails barrel rolled out of the way, trying to get close. He shot several bullets at the massive machine, but it didn't even dent the metal.

"That armor is extremely thick!" Tails yelled over the wind.

"Get in close!" Shadow responded. Tails got close as the mouth opened. Tails swerved away to avoid getting crushed by the giant jaws and Shadow let loose a Chaos Flare, but that did nothing against the monster.

Tails moved around flanking the E-90, but the triple laser turret turned and fired backwards, almost hitting them. "A little To close." Shadow said.

"Hold on, I think I've got an idea." Tails responded. But the E-90 opened a small port on it's back and released explosive junk, blinding the two, but Tails pushed. Showing his ace piloting skills, Tails started to move in circle around the mech, forcing it to corkscrew. Firing another shot, Tails blew a hole in the armor. "GOT IT!" Tails yelled excited. But things started to take a turn.

E-90 started to go higher, and then released a massive bin from it's body. Tails narrowly avoided it before chasing E-90 into the clouds. When he came out the other side, E-90 had turned to face them and fired a volley of Missiles. Shadow jumped out of the plane, and jumped from missile to missile, using his momentum to push them away and turned one on the E-90. Tails caught Shadow as he fell watching the missile hit the E-90. When the smoke cleared, the E-90 had it's mouth opened and started to suck the air in, trying to swallow the Tornado.

Tails pulled up, getting out of the vacuum and hiding in the clouds...before E-90 sucked them out to. Things became to much for the propeller and it gave out, causing Shadow and Tails to fall. they plummeted to the ocean below, and Tails pressed a series of commands and turned the Tornado into it's jet form.

"Tails, get us out of here." Shadow said.

"But Shadow! We can-"

"Tails...there will be another time." Shadow cut him off as the two headed back to Maria's.

.

Shadow sat on the roof, staring into the starry night. He kept pondering what went wrong in that battle with Robotnik...

He then heard Chuck and Tails trying to come up with solutions.

"We need to get faster." Shadow said as he appeared in the garage doorway.

"What do you mean?" Tails asked.

"Our main problem was we weren't fast enough. Is there any way to upgrade the Tornado?" Shadow asked.

"Well, maybe I can super charge it with a Chaos Emerald..." Tails said, but shook his head. "But we'd have to much energy. Maybe a second engine?" Tails suggested.

"You're the genius. I trust you'll find a way." Shadow said as he walked away and Tails nodded. Tails had a small smirk on his face when Chuck spoke up.

"Well, I do have something to show you. Come on!" Chuck said as he opened a door, leading the two down to a lower level. Tails looked around and saw what could be considered his candy store. "Let's get to work!" Chuck said as he rolled up his sleeves and Tails gave him a thumbs up.

Tails worked through the night on the improved Tornado, making sure everything would be perfect. Chuck offered food for the young genius, but Tails turned it down saying he was almost done. Chuck shrugged and walked away, wanting some sleep. As Tails was connecting wires, a hand fell on his shoulder. Tails turned to see Maria offering her help.

.

Shadow watched the sunrise, waiting for what would happen today.

"SHADOW!" He heard Tails call. Shadow turned and hopped off the roof as Tails led him to the garage.

"Introducing..." Tails said as the garage opened to reveal a new plane entirely. The body was something of a cylinder, with a point at the end of it and a glass cockpit up top with four wings making an X through it. the booster rockets on the back were something of a box shape. "The X Tornado!" Tails exclaimed.

"Well done Miles." Shadow said. Tails nodded his head with a big smile on his face.

"Let's go!" Tails said as he and Shadow hopped in.

"I'm coming to." Maria said as she walked up, but Shadow stopped her.

"Not this time." Shadow said as Maria cocked an eyebrow. "It's to dangerous on this one. Sit out."

"I faced danger before, Shadow." Maria pointed out.

"I know, and each time you came closer to getting hurt. This isn't a game Maria." Shadow explained.

"Well what if I don't want to stay here?" Maria countered.

"I wasn't asking. I'm telling you, sit this one out." Shadow finished with an edge in his voice. "Let's go Tails." Shadow said as Tails nodded, both of them hopping in the new plane as it took off. Maria looked down as Amy came over.

"Hey..." Amy comforted.

"I didn't mean to make him angry...I just wanted to help." Maria said a little downcast.

"Shadow's always angry." Amy said flatly.

"Mr. Shadow kept you here so that you wouldn't get hurt. He does care about you after all." Cream said.

Maria sighed. He she was getting counsel from a six year old. But, Cream has known Shadow longer...

.

Tails and Shadow rocketed into the air, searching for the E-90.

"You know..." Tails started. "She only wanted to help."

"I understand that." Shadow responded. "But I don't want anybody else hurt. I trust you enough to come along, but I've only known her for a few months now."

Tails pondered that when the screen started beeping. They found their target.

E-90 had spotted them and launched a volley of missiles and Tails dodged them, showing the X-tornado's agility. Shadow opened the cockpit and jumped out, jumping from missile to missile and finally landing on the E-90. Seeing a large golden cylinder, Shadow had guessed this thing had been upgraded. It fired lasers at Tails and Shadow ran forward, slamming through the piece with a homing attack. But when it blew up, Shadow was launched into the air. Tails caught him on his way down.

"Follow it!" Shadow yelled as they ascended. Suddenly, the E-90 slowed, sticking out it's vacuum to suck in Shadow and Tails.

"Hold on!" Tails yelled as he shot the vacuum, destroying the part. E-90 dropped it's cargo hold, shooting into the stratosphere as Tails and Shadow followed. But Shadow started to feel the cold. It was 50 below as high as they were, and Shadow eventually froze over. Suddenly, he started glowing red and the ice began to crack. He shattered out of it as the E-90 launched more missiles.

Shadow growled, shooting forward and launching from missile to missile into the E-90's mouth.

"CHAOS... BLAST!" Shadow roared as he unleashed his rage, forming a red dome of violent chaos energy and incinerating E-90's head. He fell downward as Tails came to catch him, noticing how tired Shadow looked. It wasn't often Shadow used Chaos Blast, and there's a good reason why. "Let's...get back Tails..." Shadow said as Tails nodded, opening the cockpit for Shadow. They flew back to Maria's place, Shadow forced to have several blankets on him. Maria came over and sat next to him. The two nodded at each other in understanding. Shadow went back to his sulking state and Maria smiled a bit.

.

.

A/N: Alright, I finally finished this chapter. Sorry it took so long. Life ended up in the way. Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, have a nice day...or night...whatever.


	10. Getting Personal

"The new Emerald Coast Resort sounds like the perfect vacation to get away from it all!" Amy said delighted as she thought about said resort. "We can hang out at the beach, float in a crystal clear ocean all day long, and dine as you watch a spectacular sunset!" Amy rambled on about her plans as Tails and Maria loaded up the X Tornado. "I just wish we were going to the opening party." Amy said as Maria had a wistful look on her face.

"We'll have plenty of fun at the Villa." Cream encouraged, sitting in the back pod of the X Tornado. "Are you ready cheese?" She asked as her chao expressed it's joy.

"I'm ready to guys." Tails said a little excited. "My flight plan will take us straight to the coast resort."

"Be careful, and try not to get spotted." Maria warned before looking over and seeing Shadow headed towards the garage opening. "Shadow, do you have everything packed?"

"Not going. I have better things to do than stay at a resort." Shadow said as he left in a blur. Maria had a confused and slightly hurt look on her face.

"Don't mind him." Amy said comforting Maria. "He won't admit it, but Shadow can't swim at all." At that, Maria remembered back when she pulled Shadow out of her pool not long ago, how he sputtered and hacked out water.

"I wish I could hang out with you guys instead of going to the resort opening." Maria said, switching the subject.

Chuck came over and put a hand on her shoulder. "I know but your mother can't make, so you have have to go in her place." He reminded Maria.

Maria sighed out. _"Mom can't make it. what else is new?"_ She asked herself mentally. She looked up hearing a honking, seeing Ella in the car and telling her to hurry as to not be late for the ceremony. Everybody said their goodbye's to Maria as she left.

"Let's go." Tails said as everyone loaded up and engaging the X Tornado into take off. Amy and Cream had to get used to the acceleration this new plane came with as they were shoved back into their seats as the plane took to the sky. They passed over the car Maria was riding in, and Maria waved them off.

"Master Maria." Mr. Tanaka said, getting Maria's attention. "I remind you that you will be representing the Thorndyke Family, so it is in your best interest to behave yourself."

"Yes Mr. Tanaka." Maria said deflated.

"I know you're upset..." Tanaka said in a caring manner. "But please, try to keep your chin up." He encouraged as Maria nodded.

.

Touching down at the resort, Tails and Amy unpacked everything while Cream and Cheese played together on the beach. Once done, Amy put on her swim wear and went for a dive, seeing all the fish under the water. She came back up for air.

"This place is amazing!" Amy exclaimed.

"It sure is. I'm glad we came." Tails agreed.

"And things will be even more fun when Maria gets here!" Cream said as the three laughed with each other.

Not far away, Maria was in her elegant blue dress as she greeted and shook hands with everyone else in expensive clothes. She had her practiced fake smile on as she shook yet another hand. A short break came and she sighed boredly, but was reminded by Tanaka to keep up appearances. She put her smile on again as another bout of greetings and pointless handshakes from people that she didn't know, but her parents knew. Nobody noticed the small drone in the sky hovering over the resort as it zoomed in on Maria. The feed went back in front of none other than Robotnik.

"Ah...there's the brat that hangs out with Shadow and his little group." Robotnik stated. He noticed the event and sent the drone out to monitor what was going on, but never thought he'd find Maria there. He formed a plan, getting one of his newer bot's ready.

It hand the body of an octopus, but the tendrils were made of a thick wiring and the tips were a curved blade.

"E-91, I order you to crush that resort and bring me the girl!" Robotnik ordered as he left in the Egg-mobile. _"If I have her in custody, I might be able to make Shadow surrender. He always was a sucker with hostages, that hasn't changed at all."_ Robotnik thought as he headed towards the resort, a wicked grin on his face.

.

Maria sighed as she saw the next wave of people to greet when the villa started to rumble and shake. She looked around just as confused as everybody else when suddenly, the roof was torn off by a giant robotic octopus. Maria looked up and dodged as one of the tendrils reached her. That's when she noticed Robotnik.

"Well hello there!" The mad Doctor said to get everyone's attention. People looked to him with fear in their eyes. "I want you all to know I'm here for one person, and one person only. Now, stand aside or be CRUSHED!" Robotnik warned menacingly. He looked around and saw Tanaka and Ella shielding Maria. "Ah, the hired help. E-91, if you'd please?" Robotnik requested of his mech. "On second thought..." Robotnik stated as he looked around. "We set up here, and when Shadow shows up...hehe."

.

Shadow just got back to the mansion from his run when he walked into the door to see the news station on. The resort was under attack and it was by...

"Robotnik." Shadow stated. He heard a rustle outside as saw Chuck getting into a car in a semi panicked state. Rushing over, Shadow stopped Chuck from leaving, stating he'd be more use if he checked up on everyone else before bolting away. Shadow tore through the city as fast as he could while not causing any damage. Before long, the Resort was in his sights. But Maria was suspended high above the ground by the giant octopus.

"ROBOTNIK! LET HER GO!" Shadow yelled to get Robotnik's attention.

"Ah, Shadow, you've arrived." Robotnik stated calmly. He snapped his fingers and the grip around maria tightened just a bit, making Maria wince.

"Put her down Robotnik, this is between us!" Shadow yelled.

"Surrender." Robotnik said simply. "Surrender to me, and the girl goes free."

"Like I'd believe that." Shadow responded. Robotnik snapped his fingers again and the grip tightened a bit more, making Maria let out a short yelp. Shadow hunched a bit, contemplating his options when he saw behind the mech a glimmer of the X Tornado.

"Fire!" Tails yelled as he launched a volley of small rockets and destroyed the tendril that held Maria. Thinking fast, Shadow reacted and shot towards Maria catching her mid fall. But as he landed and set Maria down, he was whipped away by a thick tendril.

He crashed into Debris before the tendril got him out, heading towards the water. Activating his hover shoes, Shadow tried his best to stay on land but was being dragged regardless.

"HAAAAAAA!" Amy yelled as she jumped out the X Tornado with her Hammer at the ready, crushing the tendril that held Shadow. Shadow, now released from the grip, shot forward and up a slope, jumping off at the peak. He took off the inhibitor rings and and explosion of raw energy encased him as he shot down towards E-91, blasting through it's head. He landed as it sank into the ocean, the tendril spasiming out of control. As he put his rings back on, he heard a scream and saw Amy was caught before being launched away...into the water.

"Hang on!" Shadow yelled before bolting across the water, getting to where Amy went under before diving down.

Amy looked up to see the determined expression on Shadows face. As he reached her though, she blacked out. Coming around again, she was back on the resort in a bedroom with Maria, a bandage showing as her shirt fell.

"Oh good, you're up." Maria said relieved.

"Wh-where's Shadow?" Amy asked looking around.

Maria cracked a small smile, saying Shadow left to see if he could spot Robotnik along the coast.

Amy only nodded in understanding, looking at the beach with a wishful look.

Elsewhere, Shadow stood along the shore with his arms crossed. Robotnik just took it a step to far this time, and someone was going to pay.

.

A/N: AAAALLLLRIGHTY THEN! I've had a bit of writers block with this chapter and almost skipped it entirely, but decided not to. Now, the next two episodes I will not be writing as one of them was something that would not fir the story, and the other is a rouge chapter so there would be absolutely no difference from the show and this story.

I will give a brief overview and here it is.

The next "Episode" was the baseball episode. I will not be writing it even though a Chaos Emerald is on the line. Could you really see Shadow playing Baseball with Robotnik? No. So, the basic view is Tails was out and happened upon a Chaos Emerald in a baseball park. Robotnik also finds it, and ultimately steals it from Tails before anything happens. The end.

The episode after that is the government enlist the help of Rouge to scout Robotnik's base of operations. They succeed, everyone is happy. The end.

So, the next chapter's I'll be writing are the battle with Robotnik in episodes "Beating Eggman parts 1&2\. I don't know when I'll release them as I want to do it on the same day and I have no real schedule. I write the chapter, I post it. But I will say, it shouldn't take more than a week, a week and a half at the most. See you guys then.


	11. Fighting Robotnik Part: 1

It had been a regular day at the Thorndyke Mansion. Shadow was on the roof reading an Atlas, figuring he'd already been everywhere he could go without the aid of Tails or a boat. Cream and Cheese were inside watching T.V when Ella brought a snack when suddenly the Channel changed.

The presidents aid was on air with a big announcement. "The president has decided to take action against Dr. Robotnik!" He yelled into the mic, several reporters getting photos and screaming their questions.

Meanwhile, Robotnik sat in his base while watching the news before laughing. "I hope they have a disaster plan because they're going to need it, HAHAHAHAHA!"

.

Tails had been flying the X tornado with Shadow sitting in the seat behind him. Amy and Maria were sitting in the back pod during the flight.

"How far away from the energy spike Tails?" Shadow asked.

"Just a few more minutes Shadow." Tails responded as they flew. Tails could've sworn he saw Knuckles down below, but didn't stop for questions. He had picked up a weird energy signature, likely from a Chaos Emerald.

"Hey Amy, check it out! That's the School I go to." Maria said as she pointed to a building.

"Wow, what's it like?" Amy asked.

"Really boring unfortunately. Grandpa already taught me most of the things they'd teach, and even a few things they couldn't teach me." Maria responded. "But I have to go for the formalities."

.

At the White House, the President was going over the plans for Robotnik's base which Rouge and special agent Topaz scouted not long ago. Rouge however, took most of the credit much to the annoyance of Topaz.

"And what of Shadow?" The President asked.

"We're ready to capture him and force him to work with us." A General stated.

"Hmmm, I wouldn't try that." Rouge stated, causing eyebrows to be raised. "Shadow does what he wants. People that try and use force tend to wind up...changing their minds." She suggested.

"So...how would we get his help?" another General asked.

"Try a peace offering first of all. Shadow may be hard headed, but he can be reasonable. I'm sure he hates this whole "Hiding out" thing." Rouge answered, and everyone looked at each other.

"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt." The President stated.

.

Back at the Thorndyke mansion, Ella answered the door to the Presidents Aid, guarded by two other agents in black.

"Is Shadow around?" the Aid asked.

Ella had a moment of shock, but composed herself quickly stating she didn't know a "Shadow".

"We're not here to capture him, in fact we need his help. The President is offering full citizenship to Shadow and his friends if they help us." The PA said.

"Look, I already told you, I don't know a Shadow. Now get out of here!" Ella said with her sass.

"I can cause a lot of problems for you...Ella. NOW GET SHADOW!" the Aid said before the door was slammed in his face, only for Ella to come back out and drench him with Floor wax before slamming the door again.

Ella stormed up the stairs as Tanaka asked what was wrong.

"The Presidents big shot assistant thinks he can come here and boss us around, well I just showed him that he's all wet." Ella said in rapid fire.

.

"I see. Well, thanks for the update..." The president said as he set the phone down. "They couldn't even get into the front door to talk to him."

"Then it looks like we'll be using force!"

"Don't bother." Rouge intercepted. "We don't need him anyways, you got me!"

"Hmmm...Well, we did get reports he just left..." The President contemplated. "Ok, let'stake the base down. To VICTORY!"

As everyone cheered, Rouge wondered how something that cheesy got a cheer. _"No matter...I'm getting a Chaos Emerald for sure."_

As everybody loaded up into jets, Knuckles was on the horizon.

.

"Down Here!" Tails yelled. The Chaos Emerald had been reacting to the energy spike, which meant this was definitely another Emerald. They landed in a corn field, getting out of the X Tornado. They found the place the Emerald was reacting the most.

"Stand back." Shadow warned. As he jumped into the air, a giant yellow robot fell from the sky, the impact knocking Shadow back. Another good look, and Shadow saw the robot had a massive fan in the middle of the circular body.

Tails got into the X Tornado and transformed it, the back rockets becoming something akin to legs with a reverse knee joint.

"Amy, hammer!" Shadow said as he curled into a ball and spun in place. Amy took out her hammer and slammed Shadow forward, but the E-94 spun the giant fan and blew shadow back away, and the X Tornado skid backwards. Maria held onto a crop to keep herself upright, while Amy stuck her hammer into the ground and catching Shadow. "Tails!" Shadow yelled as the X tornado transformed back into the jet mode, flying towards E-94. But he golden mech wasn't done. It gave a harder gust of wind, and this time the X Tornado went down and back, when Shadow heard a scream. He turned and saw Maria pinned down under the X Tornado with tears in her eyes.

"Enough!" Shadow yelled before removing his inhibitor rings, blowing out of the winds path and came around to the side of E-94 and threw a Chaos Flare, blasting one of the legs off. He bashed his way inside, letting loose a mass of Chaos Energy before unleashing a Chaos Blast from the inside obliterating the mech. As Shadow landed to catch his breath, he saw Robotnik had dug a little deeper and grabbed the Chaos Emerald before flying away. Shadow was about to go after him when Maria suddenly screamed again. He turned and saw her still pinned and crying.

"Hang on!" Shadow yelled as he struggled to lift that part of the X Tornado and Amy dragged Maria away, letting Tails transform into the X cyclone. Shadow turned to see Maria holding her left leg as it was covered in blood and in a weird angle.

"We need to get an ambulance, I think her leg is broken!" Amy said panicked.

"There's no time! Miles, follow Robotnik!" Shadow yelled as he picked Maria up. Tails threw an earpiece and Shadow caught it before blasting away, holding Maria close. _"Please, just hold on Maria."_

Shadow came to a stop at a hospital, getting the doors to open and the doctors started to freak out. "Help her!" Shadow pleaded as he gave Maria to the Doctors, tears in his eyes.

 _"Robotnik, if she dies because of this, You're done for!"_ Shadow swore to himself.


	12. Fighting Robotnik Part: 2

"Tell me you found something, Miles." Shadow spoke into a com link Tails gave him before getting Maria to the hospital a mere 30 minutes earlier. Maria was still unconscious, but as far as Shadow knew she was stable.

"Yeah, I know where Robotnik's base is. I'll pick you up, just hold tight for a minute." Tails responded. within a few minutes, Tails had made it to Shadow, telling him of the broadcast on Robotnik's base.

"Let's get moving." Shadow said in a hard determined voice. He stood on top of the X Tornado, wanting Robotnik to see his face upon approach.

.

Getting back to his base, Robotnik was surprised to see it under attack. They timed it so perfectly while he was away, but they ran into the complication of automated defenses. The military were fighting as best they could, keeping the system on them while the stealth team was going off without a hitch. They were even taking out the "welcome wagon" inside, but just up ahead were more robots, and this time they would be trapped. Rouge fought as hard as she could, but was surrounded by gunners. Everything seemed lost until everyone heard a boom as the wall came crumbling down and Knuckles jumped out, dodging the bullets and smashing the gunners where they stood.

"Whoa, who are you and how'd you get here?" Topaz asked.

"Call me Knuckles." The red brawler answered. "As for how I got here, I hitched a ride on a missile. Hope you don't mind me crashing the party."

"Hmm." Topaz thought looking back at Rouge. But, for whatever reason, Rouge had her back turned. "Well, the more help we can get the better. LET'S ROLL!"

.

As the stream went on, the news reporter caught a glimpse of a new plane entering the field.

"Hold on, what's that on the front?" She asked as the Camera zoomed and the audience gasped. "It looks like a black...hedgehog?" She asked, and indeed Shadow was kneeling on the front of the X Tornado, and his eyes were not one of a hero. Shadow was out for blood, and the people could tell.

Cream gasped as she saw Shadow on the news, recognizing that look and it scared her. Sure, Shadow always looked ticked, but this one was different. She'd only seen him wear that a few times, and none of them ended pretty.

.

"Get us as close as you can Miles, I need to get inside!" Shadow ordered. Tails nodded, knowing not to respond but just do what Shadow said.

Robotnik looked on the screen, noticing Shadow on the X Tornado. "FIRE EVERYTHING ON THAT HEDGEHOG!" Robotnik ordered. He knew that wouldn't stop Shadow, but it would buy him time. Robotnik left with the Chaos Emerald he stole earlier and one he stole from Tails not long ago (Baseball episode).

As the rockets came up, Tails shot forward and showed his ace piloting skills, dodging and weaving through the rockets Robotnik shot while getting closer to the base. Tails fired a missile into the wall of the base.

"Shadow, now's your chance!" Tails yelled as Shadow jumped off, forming into his spin dash and blowing through the wall into the base, taking off into the hallways.

 _"Time to finish what we started."_ Shadow thought back to how this whole crazy ordeal that lead to earth came back to this same base. He threw a Chaos Flare and blew open a door, running inside before coming to a stop and seeing Robotnik in a giant black and grey humanoid mech, the Egg Mobile as the head.

"That's far enough Shadow..." Robotnik stated. "It was mere luck that brought you this far, but you stand no chance of beating me now, not in this suit. Give up."

Shadow gave a death stare at Robotnik, then closed his eyes. "You robbed me of my old life. You attacked Cream and Cheese, you made Miles an ORPHAN when he was born, and hurt Maria. All because I couldn't do what needed to be done back then." Shadow opened his eyes, filled with rage. "DOCTOR! YOU'RE GOING STRAIGHT TO HELL!" Shadow roared as he shot forward.

.

"The demolition charges are all set ma'am!" An officer told Topaz. Topaz nodded, saying everyone needed to evacuate but Rouge had other ideas. The group argued back and forth over leaving, only noticing a security lock down after the doors sealed themselves shut. Rouge tried kicking the doors down, but to no avail. Knuckles punched them, but didn't even make a dent.

"No way..." Knuckles said, knowing the countdown couldn't be delayed. "Come on, we have to just hit it HARDER!" Knuckles yelled with Rouge, the two of them going to town on the door.

.

Back with Shadow and Robotnik, the fight was going bad. Everything Shadow did was countered by Robotnik. None of his projectile Chaos Powers seemed to work either. As Shadow ran forward to take another shot at Robotnik's face, a leg was brought up and kicked Shadow back hard. Shadow flew towards the roof, hitting it before going down. But Robotnik wasn't done. He caught up before Shadow hit the floor and delivered another kick, sending Shadow into the wall before keeping him planted there with his hand.

"Give it up, Rodent. I've studied you ever since you "obtained" these abilities of yours. This mech was designed to beat you in every way." Robotnik bragged as Shadow pushed on the wall, but Robotnik pushed harder into the wall. "This machine is powered by two Chaos Emeralds, which is more than enough to over power you. Face it Shadow, we've reached your limit."

Shadow's eyes dialated at that. "Limit? LIMIT!? AAARRRGH!" Shadow strained against the wall as he started glowing red before his inhibitor rings popped off as he unleashed a massive Chaos Blast, incinerating the hand holding him in place. Robotnik saw in shock as Shadow was enveloped in a red flame, and he looked pissed. "I've got you're "LIMIT" RIGHT HERE!" Shadow roared as Robotnik threw the other hand in a punch, but Shadow spin dashed through the arm and coming out the shoulder, bouncing off the opposite wall and through the mech's back, grabbing the two Chaos Emerald within.

Robotnik ejected, heading up higher to escape Shadow's wrath. But Shadow wasn't done. He chased after Robotnik, blowing straight through doors he'd normally have a few problems with. Shadow threw Chaos Flare at Robotnik, the explosions when he missed were bigger and more violent than before. They were coming up into the main reactor room as Robotnik flew over the door that Knuckles and Rouge made a hole inside. Knuckles dived with Rouge out of the way as an enraged Shadow tore through the door as if it were paper.

"Shadow's lost his mind..." Knuckles commented as the group made a run for it.

.

As Robotnik made it to the beach, Shadow emerged from the base as well, and a well aimed Chaos Needle smashed the Egg Mobile. As Robotnik landed on the Beach, he ran for an area before a bright red spear cut his left arm off, right in the middle of the bicep. Robotnik fell in pain as he saw his arm laying on the beach, soaking the sand in red as Shadow wobbled towards him, the flame subsiding.

"H-how's that f-for my...limit...?" Shadow asked before his eyes rolled back in his head, falling back and passing out just as Tails landed the X Tornado.

.

"Uh-ugh." Shadow muttered as he came to, sitting up and holding his head.

"You're finally awake." He heard, looking over to see Maria in a light blue T-shirt withwhite shorts on, her left leg in a cast.

"Maria..." Shadow hazily said. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, looking around to see he was back in the Thorndyke Mansion.

"Shadow!" Tails exclaimed as he ran forward. "It's over! We won!"

"Eggman won't be a problem anymore!" Amy continued.

"And it's thanks to you." Cream finished cheerfully.

"Is Robotnik de-" Shadow cut himself off as he looked at Cream.

"We don't know. His body wasn't recovered. Well, at least not most of it...But without his arm, I don't think he'll be dangerous." Tails explained.

"That doesn't mean anything Miles." Shadow retorted. "The last time we underestimated Robotnik, he caused a lot of damage."

"Shadow, that's not how things are done here." Maria explained. Shadow looked at her, seeing her smiling despite the day, she was just glad her friends are all accounted for. Maybe it was better this way...without any blood on his hands.

If he had Robotnik's life in the balance and he took that life, was that a line he'd be able to come back from? He was willing to cross it today, but would he any other time? What worried him was he didn't know. It was a bridge he would cross later. But right now, the world was safe.

"Shadow, we're citizen's now. People know of us, we don't have to hide anymore." Amy said as she handed Shadow his passport.

"That means you can stop fighting Robotnik now, and live a life away from violence." Cream recommended as she walked away.

Shadow contemplated that. A life away from combat? He couldn't remember the last time he had that...He looked up and saw Maria giving him a smile, and Shadow couldn't help but smile back. Maybe, just maybe, he could finally move on with his life.


	13. What are Friends For?

At the White House, the President's Aid was ecstatic. The elections would be coming up soon, and it was his job to get his boss re-elected. However, the President deflated him by showing the news. Every station had Shadow on the news, showing him protecting people from thugs, or Tails making a new machine. He watched as the news replayed Tail's fancy flying with Shadow during the attack on Robotnik not long ago.

"GAH!" The Aid yelled in a panic. "Ok, don't worry. We'll just have to, uh...to..." He said thinking before snapping his fingers. "We'll throw a PARTY!"

"A party?" The president asked.

"Yes, of course! And we'll get Shadow here, and you two can shake hands. Once everyone sees that you two are allies, your ratings will go through the roof!" The Aid said excitedly. The President shrugged, not being able to argue with that logic. Little did they know that Rouge had been listening in, and she had a concerned look on her face.

.

It had been roughly 2 days since the attack on Robotnik's base. Along that time, Maria had been using crutch to get around in the house and a wheelchair when out in public. Shadow saw the cast every time and had a pit of guilt form in his stomach, but he'd quickly stash it away and keep a more neutral face. But today wasn't one of those days. He needed to get out and run somewhere. Everyone else was out doing something, and he had an uneasy feeling. He dashed out the door, running along a ridge line. He kept his speed just around 200 mph to keep from damaging anyone or anything. As he was running along, he passed something in the sand along the ridge and backed up, noticing Maria had her wheelchair stuck and was trying to get out of the pit.

"Come on, come on." Maria said to herself as she fiddled with the joy stick that controlled her movement. But no matter what she did, the tires would just spin in the sand. She just about gave up and called someone until she felt pressure on her handles, turning to see Shadow pushing the chair.

"Thanks Shadow." She said with a smile. Shadow nodded a little bit as he pushed, finding a nice spot on the coast. The two had a silent moment until Shadow noticed Maria had a longing stare off into the distance, along with what looked like tear streaks.

"Maria?" Shadow asked to get her attention. She jumped a little when he snapped his fingers. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, Shadow. Was just...thinking." Maria stated. Shadow asked what about and Maria pointed to an island not to far off. "I've heard stories about that island there. I wanted to go some day."

"Why not now?" Shadow questioned.

"My parents were supposed to take me yesterday, but..." Maria said, looking down at her leg. "I doesn't matter. They called saying they'd be to busy. That's when they learned of this." Maria explained, putting her head boredly in her hands.

Shadow thought for a few minutes before making up his mind. "Ok." Shadow simply stated.

"Ok?" Maria asked confused.

"I'll get us there, Thursday. We don't have the supplies right now, but we will later." Shadow explained. Maria smiled a bit and Shadow shook her hand, saying they should get back home. They hailed a cab as if Shadow ran, the wheelchair might've broken apart. The driver gave Shadow a weird look before shrugging. This was Station Square, so why not?

.

Getting into the door to the mansion, Shadow walked Maria in and was greeted by Chuck.

"Did you guys hear!?" Chuck asked. Shadow and Maria looked at each other and shrugged. "The President is throwing a party, and we're all invited!"

"When is this party?" Shadow asked.

"Uh, the invitation says Thursday." Chuck explained, looking at the card.

"What?" Maria said a little deflated.

"Can't make it." Shadow quickly followed.

"WHAT!?" Chuck asked.

"Shadow, this is supposed to be a big party, full of important people." Tails explained.

"Then I guess they won't notice that I'm elsewhere." Shadow responded, looking at Maria. "I already have plans anyway." Then, Shadow looked at Tails before thinking things over. "I guess you're going to have to be there for me." Tails nodded as Shadow wheeled Maria off.

"Shadow, are you sure about this? We can just go some other time..." Maria offered.

"I'm not one for big parties. To many people with to big an ego." Shadow responded, handing Maria her crutch before walking off.

.

The next day as the Thorndyke limo drove up, The President's Aid came out to greet everyone. But when everybody stepped out, Shadow wasn't among them. Neither was the girl.

"Wh-where's Shadow?" He asked.

"Not coming. Said he had other plans." Chuck stated.

"NOT COMING!?" Now the Aid started freaking out as everyone rushed passed him. The news reporters started to leave, but the Aid stopped them. He promised them Shadow the Hedgehog, and it was going to happen by any means.

.

"Wait here." Shadow told Maria on the coast. Maria nodded as Shadow took off back to the mansion. He looked up and saw all the planes, wondering what was happening. As he dashed into the mansion, Shadow missed the black van parked outside.

"Shadow, hold on." Ella called out. Shadow turned around. "Some big shots were here not to long ago looking for you. You better watch your back."

"Understood, thanks for the heads up." Shadow responded with his nod before walking out, holding the boat over his head. He looked up and saw a helicopter fire a missile at him. Jumping, he kicked the missile back at the helicopter, entangling it in a net before blowing away for Maria, getting there as fast as he could.

"Let's go." Shadow stated as he put the boat in the water. Maria could tell something was off however, but when questioning Shadow, he said it was nothing. He wouldn't let this trip be cancelled.

Shadow rowed the boat, looking around to see the sun starting to set.

"Thank you...Shadow." Maria said and Shadow nodded. He turned and saw the island, but also heard more helicopters up above. He looked up to see three helicopters descending on them, rocking the boat.

"Wait, don't-!" Shadow yelled. He wouldn't be able to fight all three of them on the boat with Maria. Suddenly, a hook was shot through the boat and dragged them away from the island. "Maria, do you trust me?"

"Of course." Maria confirmed nodding.

Shadow nodded before grabbing Maria's wheelchair, bolting across the water and hoping the chair would't fall apart. He shot up the hill and into the forest on the island before checking on Maria.

"Maria, are you-?" Shadow asked before he heard something odd. Maria was laughing.

"Sorry...I just...I wasn't in for an adventure today. Things are never dull around you Shadow." Maria said calming herself down.

"Alright then." Shadow said with a smirk. "Let's keep moving. We'll just have to be careful." Shadow took off into the forest, certain they wouldn't be able to be found if they moved fast enough and were quiet.

Unfortunately, humans are a persistent bunch. Shadow looked around as more people went after them on weird hover plates. Maneuvering around trees, making tight turns, Shadow caused a few of them to crash before he shot up another mountain, looking down to see they weren't followed. Maria's gasp caught his attention as he turned and saw the flowers Maria had mentioned.

"It's better than I thought." Maria said a little star struck. Shadow went to grab one But Maria stopped him. "These aren't meant to be picked, Shadow." She said chuckling a little. Shadow rolled his eyes. They were flowers, what difference would it make? Course he'd never say that around Cream. She'd give him an earful over it. Just then, Maria's cell phone rang. She answered it and had a stunned look on her face before handing it to Shadow.

"Who is this?" Shadow asked.

"That's no way to answer the phone, broody." A voice responded.

"Rouge."

"Bingo." Rouge confirmed. "Listen, I know you have people on you. I want you to know, this isn't the Presidents doing. His Aid is starting to loose it."

"Tell me how to make them stop."

"I don't think you can. Not with the girl you have with you that is." Rouge answered, knowing Shadow would be reluctant to shed blood around Maria. "Listen, if you get to this party they should back off. I can't put the President's Aid down, but I know you don't like being hunted. Just show up and shake a hand."

"Why should I trust you?" Shadow asked, knowing full well Rouge was a thief and liar above all else.

"I didn't have to call you, did I?" She had a point there. Just then, two grapple hooks hit the edge behind Shadow and Maria and people were coming up.

"Maria, hope you like big parties." Shadow stated as he dashed off with Maria. "HEY!" Shadow yelled to get everyone's attention. When the two people climbing to get them looked over, Shadow waved at them before dashing off into the forest. Soon enough however, Shadow had run out of room when he was at the edge of a cliff. He turned as four humans were there before a helicopter appeared from the edge.

"Shadow, we're bringing you to the President." One of them stated.

Shadow wheeled Maria out of the way. "Take your best shot." Shadow challenged as the all fired their grapple guns at him. Shadow dodged out of the way and grabbed Maria out of her chair, bolting into the helicopter and throwing the pilot out. He left again but was back in a second with the wheelchair.

"Can you fly this thing? Maria asked concerned.

"Well, Tails has taught me more than a few of his tricks." Shadow responded, releasing the grapple and flying away for the White House.

"Shadow, are you ok?" Maria asked.

"I'm fine. I just wish today had gone better." Shadow answered.

"I had fun regardless, Shadow. Thank you." Maria nodded as they flew away.

.

"Nonono! Shadow, where are you?" The President's Aid asked into the night. This night was a wreck for him, not how he imagined. Shadow would rather spend time with some person rather than meet the President? What kind of person was he? That's when he heard the helicopter outside. He burst to the front door and saw Shadow with Maria just outside.

Shadow walked up, a calm and neutral look to anyone else but Tails was a little worried. Shadow was hiding something.

Shadow looked around and saw Rouge just behind a corner. She nodded to the President and Shadow shook his hand.

"AH! THERE IT IS! QUICK, THE PICTURES!" The Aid yelled, but all the reporters had nodded off. Shadow scowled a little at the man. He was the one responsible for this. But making a scene, here and now, that would just look to bad for anybody else watching. The party went on for a little longer before Shadow and the others decided to pack it in. As they were leaving, Shadow turned and glared at the Aid, who flinched just a little. As Shadow walked off, the Aid decided it best to get out of Shadows way...for now...

On the ride home, Maria had a big smile on her face. She felt more alive with these guys around than when her own...family was. She pushed that thought away, deciding to come to terms with it later.


	14. Robotnik Returns

Robotnik sat at a table, making something on it as sparks flew.

"Two weeks they've kept me trapped here...Two weeks since that rodent did...this." Robotnik stated, looking at his empty left sleeve. He finished his work, not liking it but deciding it would have to do. On the table was what looked to by a crudely made arm with three claws out the end. Two curved up while the other curved down in between, meant for gripping. Robotnik attached his new appendage, making sure that it would work. the "wrist" made a full 360, he opened and closed the "hand" part. "Watch out, rodent. I'm back." Robotnik stated darkly.

Up on the surface, people were still cleaning what was left of Robotnik's base. As one with a blueprint was walking, he looked down and saw the metal floor underneath the sand.

"Hey, I don't remember this..." He said as he bent down to touch the floor when it opened suddenly. He jumped back as out came a massive drill with two small drill on the back side. The body was a dark steel, could be mistaken for black, but had red glass on the cockpit. Suddenly, the two small drills popped out and it was revealed to be engines.

"Did you honestly believe it would be that simple?" Robotnik asked out of the speakers. He rained down bombs before flying away, wanting to send a message. He was back, and he was ready.

.

 _(2 hours earlier)_

"Hey Shadow! We're going to the mall!" Maria exclaimed. She hobbled down the stairs in her blue shirt and white jeans, using a cane to help her. Her leg had been healing quickly enough, and Tails helped by making a robotic casing. Poles on each side of the leg to help stability, while they all connected at the knee in a joint. Maria found Shadow sitting and thinking in the living room. For the past week or so, Shadow had been acting a little...strange. He talked a lot less and went out on his own a lot more. He'd been nicer than before, but he still kept himself distanced. "Shadow?"

Shadow looked up and shook his head. "You guys go on without me."

"Oh no you don't buster." Amy barged in. "Shadow, you've been scowling long enough. It's time you at least tried to act your age again, now come on."

Shadow simply gave a blank stare before getting up. "I'm going out." He said before blasting out the door. Amy looked a bit down, as did Maria.

On the way to the mall, Maria was still wondering something as she sat in the back of the limo with Tails, Amy, Cream and Cheese. "I wonder why Shadow doesn't want to come with us..."

Tails spoke up. "Shadow...I don't think he knows how to be normal anymore. He's been fighting Eggman for so long, the concept of taking it easy might not sit right with him."

"But what happens if we get into trouble and Shadow isn't around?" Maria asked.

"I wouldn't worry about that. Shadow is pretty good at arriving just in the nick of time." Tails explained with a chuckle. "You could say he sometimes goes looking for trouble."

"I just wish he wouldn't push himself." Maria said concerned.

"Trust me, Shadow isn't pushing himself right now." Amy said stubbornly. "But why talk about dark and brooding? Are we getting close Ella?" Amy asked and Ella nodded as they came up to the mall.

As they got to the mall, everyone split into their groups. Amy, Cream, Cheese, and Ella all went to the clothes section. Amy went in the dressing room with several outfits, trying them on. But taking a good look outside the curtain, she saw everyone giving her strange looks, making her fell really...self conscious.

Maria and Tails found collectibles, but Tails started to feel nervous.

"Hey...Maria?" Tails asked, getting her attention. Maria turned to see all eyes on Tails. "I think they're staring at me...WHA-" He yelled as some kid grabbed one of his Tails and dragged him.

"Hey mom, I want this one. Think we can buy it?" The kid asked. His mother pulled him away, apologizing to Tails before telling someone else it was real and wonder if a dog trainer taught it to talk. Another mom turned to her kid, telling them to make Tails say something. Maria felt her phone vibrate and seeing a text from Ella saying to meet up at the food court.

As they were eating, Amy addressed the metaphorical elephant in the room.

"Hey guys, is it me or..." Amy asked.

"...Is everyone staring at us?" Tails finished. They looked around and sure enough, everyone was just staring at them.

"I'm scared." Cream whispered, hugging Ella. Tails asked why everyone was staring at them and Ella explained they were famous celebrities.

"People will just have to get used to you guys, that's all." Maria said with confidence.

"I'm not sure anyone will get used to us." Tails muttered when a bright flash blinded him. More flashes came from other people around them, namely reporters.

"ENOUGH!" Ella yelled, getting everyone to pause. Ella looked around ticked, then paid for a VIP room. As Everyone walked in, Tails heard people mutter things about him, Amy, Cream, and Cheese.

"They should put them in the back with the other furs." One snobby looking lady said. Tails decided to ignore it as they got their menus.

"We shouldn't get hassled in here." Maria explained...right before people came up to them.

"I saw how brave your friends were on TV, can I have their paw prints?" One lady asked. Another one grabbed Cheese say he was adorable. More and more people crammed around the table and one person had accidentally kicked Maria's leg. She let out a slight yelp and that's when Amy had enough.

"WILL YOU JUST LEAVE US ALONE!?" Amy roared out, getting everyone to back off quickly.

As they left the mall, they looked up and saw a ship and heard a voice coming from it.

"Well well, miss me?" Robotnik asked. Everyone's face paled, and Tails looked really concerned. "My base was destroyed, So I guess I'll have to build a new one right here." He said menacingly as he deployed robots with a wrecking ball hanging from a crane, connected to two reverse knee joint legs. They landed on the ground and started to knock buildings over when Robotnik looked in his camera and saw Maria with almost everyone else. "How convenient. Tell me where Shadow is, and I might let you live."

Maria was scared, that much anyone could see. But she put on a brave face, refusing to talk. Tails had his hands behind his back, fiddling with something on his wrist when one of the wreckers came up.

"Guess I'm going to have to go looking for what you know through your remains." Robotnik stated. As the wrecking ball came down, Maria and the others flinched before a strong gust of wind blew past them, tearing through the robot. Everyone looked up and saw a yellow streak rip through more of the wreckers before shooting up a building, stopping to form Shadow. His arms were crossed and his eyes intense. "Just the hog I was looking for."

"Back off Robotnik, I'm warning you." Shadow threatened.

"A warning, from you? My my, you have gotten soft without me." Robotnik mocked. "Now, let's end our little game." Robotnik hit a red button, firing 5 missiles. Shadow bolted down the building he was standing on, weaving through and around the Wreckers, causing the missiles to blow them up. Shadow ran back up the building and jumped, attempting to land on the ship but barely made it half way before falling.

Shadow landed on a building and looked up, seeing small orange hawks descend on him. They fired lasers as Shadow ran through the city, throwing a Chaos Flare in the middle and damaging two of the six. one of the lasers singed his right arm and Shadow hissed in pain but moved onward. As he ran, he jumped and turned again, firing several Chaos Needles and destroying four of the hawks. As the last one swooped by, Shadow hopped on board and thrust his hand inside the back, pulling on the spine and forcing the machine to fly up.

"That's right, get up here so I can watch you..." Robotnik put a hand on a red button. "SPLAT!" Robotnik pushed the button as the robot started beeping. Realizing what was about to happen, Shadow jumped for the ship and concentrated his Chaos Needles to a single line, giving him a make-shit handle. But he was slipping. Shadow was completely vulnerable up here and if he fell then that would be it. He looked around and saw Green Orbs around him, preparing to shoot. Shadow let go at the last possible second, falling to his apparent doom when suddenly, he was caught by the X-Tornado.

"Tails?" Shadow asked, confused on how they got here so fast. He also noticed Amy in the seat behind him and in the other cockpit sat Maria with Cream and Cheese.

"I'll explain later Shadow, just hold on!" Tails said as he shifted the levers and barrel rolled around the laser orbs. As they flew by, Shadow shot his hands open and outward, letting out more Chaos Needles and nailing his targets.

"SHOOT THEM DOWN!" Robotnik ordered as he typed away on his ship, firing at the X Tornado and hitting the city below.

"Shadow, the city!" Tails warned.

"Understood. Get us close, I've got an idea." Shadow said in a somewhat humorous way. They managed to get to the cockpit of Robotnik and Shadow stood up and crossed his arms smirking. "I thought you could shoot better than that. Guess you lost some eyesight with that arm of yours." Shadow let out, Tails deciding that would be a good time to head to the ocean.

Robotnik's face turned purple at that. "SHUT UP YOU RODENT! I'LL KILL YOU, YOU HEAR ME!? I'LL KILL YOU!" Robotnik roared his rage as he followed Tails out to the open sea. Putting in a new command on his computer, Robotnik fired a massive laser from his ship. Tails saw it coming and dodged, but not entirely.

"The Energy circut got fried!" Tails exclaimed.

"English Tails!" Shadow answered.

"In a few seconds, we're going to be dead in the water!" Tails warned as Shadow started to form a bold plan.

"Tails, fly full speed at the bridge!"

"Shadow, that's insane!"

"Just do it, trust me!" Shadow said with a nod, Tails nodding back. Putting everything the X Tornado had left, Tails rocketed towards the bridge of Robotnik's ship. Taking off his inhibitor rings, Shadow launched himself from the X Tornado, shooting through the bridge and off the ship as Tails caught him. Shadow turned to watch the ship collapse, falling into the water below as he put his inhibitor rings back on. Tails landed on a military carrier nearby and Shadow stared into the horizon.

"Robotnik's back." Shadow said darkly. Maria stood behind him, feeling the tension. Tails walked up next to Shadow.

"We'll beat him Shadow. Just like we always do." Tails stated and Shadow nodded at Tails, asking how he got the X Tornado so quickly. "With this." Tails said as he pulled his right glove back a little, showing a small watch. "It's a homing Beacon for the X Tornado. I can call it if I ever need to, but it does have a limit."

"Can you make one for Chaos Emeralds? We need to get home, if for the very least to get Robotnik off of this planet." Shadow asked.

"I don't know, but I can try." Tails said confidently. The two nodded and Maria had a long look on her face, but stashed it when she saw Amy next to her. She put on a brave face as she watched Shadow and Tails stare where Robotnik had fallen.


	15. Danger from the Deep

It had been nearly three days since Shadow put Robotnik underwater, and in that time the government searched for him but didn't even find so much as a trace. Robotnik had fallen off the face of the planet.

On the ocean floor, Robotnik sat in his ship, typing in commands on a screen. He'd been manipulating his robots to try and get his ship to a least fly again, but was having a difficult time. It didn't help that he had to stop every hour or so just to avoid detection.

"Stupid chaos powered rodent..." Robotnik muttered, keeping himself quiet.

.

At the Thorndyke Mansion, Maria was gearing up to travel out with everyone in the X Tornado. Shadow sat in a small corner on top of the plane, starting to fall asleep.

"Tails, does Shadow usually take naps?" Maria asked.

"Well, he burns off a lot of energy while using his chaos powers and speed. So eating and especially sleeping is something he needs to do." Tails explained.

"I understand that, but why not just do it at night?" Maria said. She had already figured he burns calories extremely fast, but why not just settle down with everyone else.

"It's a bit more complicated than that." Amy put herself in. "Shadow constantly feels his Chaos Powers inside of him, and they aren't calming powers either." Amy explained.

Maria's eyes widened just a little. Shadow pushes himself until he falls asleep, which can't be good for him. "What do they feel like?"

Tails and Amy looked at each other, shrugging. "We don't actually know." Tails answered. "At first he said it just stings. But now?..."

"Wait, at first?" Maria caught. "What do you-" Amy cut her off with by waving her hands, telling her to just drop it. "Right." Maria said, understanding but also a little frustrated. "So, are we ready?"

"Yep, just let me start her up and we're out of here!" Tails said excitedly. Maria hobbled into the X Tornado with a bit of help from Amy. She'd been doing better with her leg, but it wasn't fully healed just yet. Tails blasted off into the sky, almost hoping they wouldn't find Robotnik. Wherever he was.

Cream had been looking through a magazine, wondering where they were going when Maria nudged her shoulder.

"Cream, look down." Maria said with a smile. Cream looked over the edge and saw the crystal clear ocean below and gave a big smile.

"It's so pretty." Cream stated when suddenly.

Tails had chuckled at seeing the two when he looked down and noticed his Chaos Emerald was acting funny. He cocked an eyebrow before the X Tornado started to rumble just a bit.

"Tails, what's going on!?" Shadow asked concerned. He woke up with the rumbling, but couldn't see an attack anywhere.

"The Chaos Emerald is reacting the way it had over that cornfield not long ago!" Tails exclaimed.

"That's where we found the Chaos Emerald buried there, right?" Amy asked and Tails nodded.

"Which means..." Maria came to the conclusion. "A Chaos Emerald must be here...underwater."

Shadow grimaced at that. He couldn't swim...so of course a Chaos Emerald was underwater.

"Hang on, I see a place to land." Tails stated, seeing the small island not far off.

The group landed, drawing the attention of people. Shadow told everyone to at least try and keep a low profile, but the people weren't having it. They rushed the heroes and Shadow grabbed Maria and bolted, knowing everyone else was fast enough to get away. The two got to a clearing and Shadow looked at the beach front.

"Shadow..." Maria started. "Why are you so afraid of water?"

"Mobians are known for being able to with stand low atmosphere's and breath. But underwater...there's nothing but water to breath down there." Shadow explained.

"So, you're not afraid of water, you don't want to drown." Maria concluded and Shadow nodded. "Well, simple solution then. Get you an air supply! This place has to have a scuba store somewhere. But we need to find the others first."

Shadow nodded, pulling back his glove to show a wrist communicator. "Tails, is everyone alright?"

"We're fine Shadow, we managed to ditch them. Where are you guys?" Tails responded.

"South side of the island. Meet us here." Shadow said as he ended the talk. He sat down and leaned back, his eyes looking just a little droopy but Maria kept it to herself.

"I'm fine." Shadow said as if he read her mind. She looked at him shocked. "You think I'm pushing to hard. Trust me, I haven't even started."

"Shadow..." Maria started but was cut off when everyone arrived. "Right...We need to get some gear if we're going under water." Maria explained, leading them to the nearest scuba store.

Getting the supplies, Maria went to pay when the clerk stopped her, saying it was part of the "Shadow Act" before asking what they were diving for.

"Uh...this is a nice ship. It looks exactly like the one in the painting." Maria stated quickly to change the subject.

"Hm? Oh yeah. It legends say that it sank around this area with it's massive treasure still inside." The clerk stated, looking a bit out of it. The group rented a boat, heading out to sea as Tails held the Chaos Emerald.

Shadow held the round mouthpiece in his hands, unsure of what to think of it. Maria had explained it keeps air for them to breath, enough for a few hours, but Shadow was still skeptical. Maria herself had on a black scuba suit to help with the pressure from being so deep under water. Suddenly, the Chaos Emerald reacted to something and Tails stopped the boat, stating this was the place.

"Come on Shadow, let's go!" Maria said as she hopped out and dove under. Shadow put his mouth piece in, going to the edge but seemed a bit skidish.

 _"Oh for the love of-"_ Amy thought before she gave Shadow a shove, knocking him into the water and diving in after him with Tails and Cream. They grabbed hold of Shadow as he gave Amy an irritated look, but started to relax a bit as they went deeper under the water.

.

"That should do it." Robotnik stated, putting his tools away when he brought up the news to see a report of Shadow...TAKING A VACATION!? "So, he sinks me to the bottom of the sea and thinks it's over? I'll show him!" Robotnik roared as his ship came up to the surface.

.

The group swam at the bottom of the sea, Tails holding the cyan Chaos Emerald in front of him as it kept it's glow. Maria tapped his shoulder, pointing to a cave.

 _"That must be it..."_ Shadow thought.

The group got to the cave and found out it was the wreck of a ship...a really big ship holding several tons of gold. They started to dig around, searching for the Chaos Emerald when suddenly a crab popped up, holding a dark blue gem that glowed. Shadow walked up and simply took the Emerald, walking over to the group as the two blue Chaos Emerald reacted to each other. Cream held up five fingers with a smile and Shadow nodded. Only two more, and they would go home. However, movement caught Shadows eye as he looked up to see a giant robot, several thin tentacles coming out of a long shaft with a clear dome up top. One of the tentacles raised up, firing a laser. Shadow grabbed Cream and Maria and jumped back, Tails and Amy doing the same. Getting their attention, Shadow gestured them to get to the surface. They nodded, swimming up as Shadow got ready for a fight. While they retreated, Tails hit the device on his wrist, calling the X Tornado.

Firing more lasers, the jelly fish robot kept at Shadow, kicking up the mud on the sea floor. Shadow had a hard time dodging them as he lined up for a Chaos Spear. But the spear fizzled out just as soon as he formed it. He looked at his hands in disbelief. His speed was cut and his powers were useless down here. He wasn't paying attention when one of the tendrils smacked him away. Shadow landed on his back hard, getting up and jumping. He activated his shoes, using the air to help him move around. But he wasn't nearly fast enough as he was smacked down again, and this time his air supply broke. Shadow covered his mouth in a panic as he was hit again. He looked up as his vision faded, releasing a last breath and passing out.

.

Everyone else broke the surface and got back to the boat.

"We have to do something!" Maria said as she took off the face part of the suit. "Shadow could be in trouble down there!"

"Maria, calm down. Help is on the way." Tails stated, looking into the distance as he saw a glimmer.

No sooner than that, the jelly fish robot broke the surface, hoisting up an unconscious Shadow up to Robotnik who hovered in the air.

"Finally." Robotnik stated menacingly. Shadow was drenched, beaten, and best of all, knocked out. He looked over as he saw the X Tornado coming up with a determined Tails and Maria inside.

"Let him go!" Tails cried out, firing bullets at the tendrils holding Shadow. As Shadow fell with the broken tentacles, Robotnik ordered his robot to fire back. Tails showed off his piloting skills again as he dodged the lasers, but it wasn't easy. Shadow was still tangled up as Tails fired away, hitting the guns of the robot.

"Enough of this! Go under water, drown that rodent!" Robotnik roared as he left for his ship, thinking his troubles with Shadow were over.

"Hope this works!" Tails prayed as he fired a rocket aiming for the stem under water. He hit his mark and the robot started to shut down, and Shadow went back under water.

"HOLD ON!" Maria yelled as she opened the cockpit and jumped before Tails could do anything. She hit the water in a dive, keeping her eyes closed and searching with her hands but couldn't see anything. Deciding to open her eyes slightly, she saw Shadow still tangled in the tendrils as they sank. She swam over, getting Shadow out of the tentacles and swam upwards, breaking the surface with a loud gasp. She went over to the head of the robot, climbing up with Shadow and put him on his back. She pressed on his chest, begging him to wake up. Putting her mouth to his, she forced air down, then pumped on his chest again. Finally, Shadow sputtered, coughing out water in a fit. He hacked out the liquid as Amy pulled up in the boat, handing Maria a breather.

"Shadow, use this." Maria told him as she put the breather in his mouth. Shadow took a biig gasp, forcing oxygen into his lungs before coughing again. He finally regained his composure, trying to stand but fell back. "Are you ok, Shadow?"

"No...no I'm not." Shadow answered, shaking his head. "I will be soon though." He coughed again, spitting out water. "How do you know CPR?" Maria sat up, stating she took a few classes on it just in case. Shadow nodded, thanking her before they loaded him in the X Tornado and flew back to return the gear, Amy following in the boat.

They got back to the island, giving back the gear when Maria spoke up.

"We found the ship...but some complications happened and it was buried under the sea floor now." She said solemnly.

"Wait, so it was buried around here?" The clerk asked.

"Yes...but it's gone now." Maria answered.

"It's ok...I'm just glad that you guys found it. Thank you for telling me." The clerk said and Maria asked him what was so special about it. "Well you see, my great grandfather was the captain of that ship. He wasn't ever found after it went missing..."

"I'm so sorry." Maria said and the clerk shook his head.

"From what my father and grandfather say, it's how he would've wanted to go out. He was a sea fairer to the end." The clerk said with a small smile. Maria nodded, heading back to the X Tornado. She decided to share a seat with Cream when she looked in the back seat to see Shadow fast asleep, even having a small snore about him and what she could swear was a slight grin. She smiled at this, getting ready for take off. They left into the sunset as the store clerk walked out, looking at the sea.


	16. Quick heads up

Hey guys, spiders here. I'm going to give a heads up on upcoming chapters. The next one is the adventures of Knuckles and Hawk, where a series of events leads to Knuckles getting the Red Chaos Emerald. Nothing to change there, so I won't do that chapter but I'm just letting you know of that event.

The episode after that is called the Dam Scam which goes over the origins of how Tails meets Sonic in the episode. Clearly, I would have to change it but I won't write it into that episode. I'll be going over the origins of all that in other chapters, so no Dam Scam. For the record, that is one of my favorite moments in the series.

From here, episode to chapters will be a bit more progressive and I'll be skipping a few. Not sure if I'm doing the racing episode. I doubt it, but I can try. That's also one of my favorite episodes.

Well, that's that for now. The next one is the episode that gave us all nightmares and I'm excited that we're getting closer to chapters that I am DYING to release. Catch you guys next time.


	17. Fright Night

Maria had gotten a call from her mother, asking if she wanted to come onto the set and see how things were done. Maria jumped at the chance, asking if everyone else could come along. Since Robotnik had been gone for awhile, everyone decided to go, even Shadow. However, things had been just a little awkward. Maria thought she'd have a chance to see her mother, not who her mother was playing. Tails and Amy had stayed with Maria, keeping her company. Cream had gone and wandered off, Shadow stating he'd keep an eye on her. The day went by in a drag as Maria had been talking with Tails and Amy when she heard "CUT!" thinking the production was over for the day.

"You were fantastic in that last take Lindsey but I'd like to give it ONE more go, take it slower, and let those tears go this time." The director said, much to the disappointment of Maria.

Maria looked over and saw another woman in a costume, however she looked familiar. "Ella?" Maria asked and Ella turned around. "Did mom get you a part in the movie?" Maria asked genuinely curious.

"That's right." Ella confirmed. "They needed someone to play a young and beautiful house keeper so they type cast me." Ella said with a laugh.

"Alright everyone, places!" The director called out. They shot their scene, Lindsey letting her tears go and "Bret" playing his role pretty good as well.

"Wow..." Amy marveled. "She sounds like she was really into Bret."

Maria gave a nervous chuckle. "Well, she is an outstanding actress."

"I heard outstanding actress. I assume you must mean me?" Lindsey walked over getting Maria's attention with a slight chuckle.

"Who else would I be talking about Mom?" Maria answered with a smile.

"Where are these friends of yours that you brought?" Lindsey asked, Tails getting her attention. Lindsey raised an eyebrow. "It's amazing what they can do with some time and make-up, isn't it? You almost look like a real fox."

Tails was a bit confused, asking Maria if she told her mother about them. "Well..." Maria answered. "I don't think she quite got it..." _I wonder where Shadow and Cream went off to."_

.

Elsewhere around the castle, Cream had decided on a game of hide and seek. Shadow reluctantly agreed, this place giving him the creeps. As he was searching, he heard a noise coming from inside the castle.

"Cream? That you?" Shadow asked as he walked in, hearing the laughter of a child. _"I got a bad feeling..."_ Shadow thought as he walked into the castle.

.

"Bret! Please, don't go!" Lindsey called out, running after "Bret". The camera man followed her, but hit a stone hour glass.

"What the-?" He asked, looking at the small pedestal with some weird writing on it. "I didn't notice this thing here before...I'll have to move it." He stated, grabbing and removing it.

At the same time, Shadow had searched under the castle when suddenly the floor glowed a dark purple color as his hands shot up in a green flame. a few seconds later, things seem to return to normal, but an odd wind blew through the place. Shadow walked onward, his hands still in the green flame as he used it for light.

Shadow searched the castle all day for the odd subject, but found nothing. He walked out and saw it was nighttime. "I must be getting a little paranoid." He thought, searching around till he found everyone else, Cream included with him.

Cream ran up when she saw shadow, asking if he was ok.

"I'm fine, Cream. Just got a little turned around." Shadow answered, then got a concerned look on his face. "Cream, I want you to stay with the group from now on, understand?"

"Ok? Is everything alright?" Cream asked.

Shadow hesitated slightly, then continued on. "Of course, I just don't want you getting lost like I did." Shadow stated, everyone buying it. Almost everyone. Tails was the only one that noticed the slight hesitation Shadow had. As Shadow walked away, Tails caught up to him.

"Shadow..." Tails said, getting Shadow's attention. "Tell me what you won't tell Cream and Cheese."

"I just have a weird feeling Miles. Something isn't right about this place." Shadow responded.

"I'm sure your just paranoid..." Tails responded cautiously. Shadow's instincts were usually spot on, but what about this place could be harmful?

"Let's hope your right." Shadow responded. "Head back into the castle, see if you can find anything about this place."

"What about you?" Tails asked, Shadow stating he'd keep looking for awhile just to be sure. Tails nodded, advising Shadow not to go looking for ghosts where none existed.

Shadow walked along the fields, catching a glimpse of a fallen stone hourglass. He examined it, turning it around a bit and noticing the moon side and the sun side. "What the heck is this thing?" Shadow asked himself, when he heard a scream.

.

a few minutes earlier, Maria had walked away from her mother's room after saying her goodnights. As she walked back into her own room, she just saw Tails sitting there with an old book.

"Where is everyone?" Maria asked. Looking up from the book, Tails responded stating that Cream, Cheese, and Amy are with Ella having a sleepover. "And Shadow?"

Tails sighed a little bit. "He's...exploring the place a bit. Something has him spooked."

Maria was taken back by this. "Shadow can get spooked?"

Tails chuckled a bit. "It's not often. He's probably just a little uneasy with Robotnik back and all. He can be just a bit protective. I'm sure everything is fine." Tails explained, heading back into the book. As he was reading, he found something interesting about the past when suddenly, they heard the scream. Lindsey was gone.

Everyone searched frantically, Shadow zoomed around the outside of the castle while Maria and Tails searched inside. Amy, Cream, Cheese, and Ella went down below...unknown to Shadow.

The four of them searched when they heard the child like laughter. Ella put her hand to a wall with weird writing on it, knocking on it asking if it was Lindsey. The laughter got louder and the four decided to bail. But as soon as they were leaving, transparent hands shoot out of the walls and grabbed Cream, sucking her into the texted wall and started dragging Ella to. Maria and Tails arrived just in time to see Ella's hand latched on to Amy's, both of them trying to pull Ella out. But it was no use and Ella vanished just as Shadow arrived with the hourglass in hand.

"Where's Ella? Where's Cream and Cheese?" Shadow demanded and Maria pointed to the wall, her face pale. "Get back." Shadow ordered, his tone harsh as he threw a Chaos Flare into the wall destroying a part of it. However, what they saw shocked them. Another wall made of a weird dark purple energy, the same Shadow had seen earlier. More hands reached out as Shadow dodged. "I always did hate ghosts!" Shadow yelled out, dodging them as everyone else ran. Shadow went in for an attack, but phased right through as more wrapped around Tails and dragged him into the void screaming. "MILES, NO!" Shadow cried out as he grabbed his wrists, ready to bring this whole castle down when he was smacked against the wall and dragged inside, struggling. "AMY, CATCH!" Shadow yelled as he threw the hourglass.

"What is this!?" Amy asked in a panic as the wall started to repair itself.

"Outside, pedestal! HUR-" was all Shadow could say as the wall closed with him inside.

"No, SHADOW!" Amy yelled to the wall, hitting it with her hammer but to no avail. "Bring him back, you hear me? BRING HIM BACK!" Maria watched, pale faced, as Amy just broke down in front of her. "Sh-shadow..."

Maria grabbed the stone hourglass, trying to keep her head screwed on straight. She looked at the relic. _"Pedestal outside? What did he mean by that..."_ She wondered, going up to Amy and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Amy, we need to go. This thing has to be important..."

Amy nodded, getting up as the two ran outside, searching for the pedestal with a circular indent.

"This must be what Shadow was talking about...but what's the big deal?" Amy asked.

Maria took a closer look, seeing faded out writing. "Hold on, look. "Appears un_er the moon...disap_rs under the su_" Wonder what that means." Maria thought. Using common sense, she was able to guess the missing letters, but the message was still pretty vague. It was still nighttime out, and ghosts supposedly got stronger at night. She took a glance at the base of the pedestal, seeing the grass blow with no wind. She bent her knees down, checking and sure enough there was a breeze from below. "There must be a hidden passage way down here..."

Step aside!" Amy ordered, bringing out her hammer and slamming the side of the pedestal, causing it to move and reveal a set of stairs. The two looked at each other and nodded, heading down.

"Maria, ghosts tend to love attention so be careful." Amy suggested.

"I'll pretend I don't notice them." Maria confirmed as the made it to the floor, hearing laughter as more ghosts came after them. The two of them screamed, Maria holding the relic in front of her when the laughter stopped. Taking a peek, Maria saw the ghosts look a the hourglass then turn away fleeing.

"That's right, you better run!" Amy yelled and impulsively ran after them, Maria calling for her to wait but to no avail. The two came up to another set of pathways, looking around when Amy noticed the ghosts head through a doorway...literally. The two walked up to the door, Maria sticking the relic inside first before walking in. "Shadow, you in here?" Amy asked, looking around and seeing at the dark room except for an odd light blue coming from

.

"Uh, ugh." Shadow muttered, looking around and seeing he was trapped in a weird void. He saw everyone else with him. He tried getting up but felt slightly drained. He looked up to see a giant white ghost, black eyes bugging out slightly as two small arms came out of it's massive curved body. Shadow took a step back, trying to access his abilities but he couldn't. He could feel the Chaos Energy coursing through him, but he just couldn't tap into it.

"Shadow, you in here?" He heard Amy whisper, looking down to see her and Maria.

"AMY, MARIA!" Shadow yelled, getting their attention. "Listen to me closely, I-

 **"-want you to know that I've always trusted you the most, Amy."** was heard, thought the voice sounded weird and distorted.

"Shadow, is it really you? Your voice sounds...off." Maria stated.

"I'm trapped in a phantom void. I might be able to get out if-"

 **"you put that stone in the space on the wall."** "Shadow" informed.

Amy looked around, again coming to the oddly lit space. She and Maria walked to it, as "shadow" egged them on with compliments. Maria got more and more suspicious.

 **"Excellent. Now put that stone inside with the moon facing up."** Maria, still holding the relic was about to put it down much to Shadow's panic. She then kept thinking of that odd inscription and Shadows voice.

 _"Appear under the Moon, Disappear under the Sun."_ Went through her head again.

"Maria, hurry! We need to get everyone out." Amy said impatiently. As Maria was about to place the stone down, she hesitated.

 **"Maria...please..."** shadow begged. She reluctantly put the stone down as a weird glow came about with an ominous wind. The two turned to see the giant ghost stalking towards them, several of the smaller ghosts nearby.

"No..." Maria shook, trying to remove the stone but it was no use. It was stuck in place.

"You! You tricked us!" Amy yelled, charging forward and swinging her hammer. However, she went right through the ghost and as she landed she was scooped up and possessed.

"A-Amy?" Maria asked. She had gone from creeped out, to scared. Now she was terrified. Amy's body turned around, opening its eyes as they were round and black, he mouth filled with fangs and sharp teeth.

 **"Don't worry, Maria."** amy said ominously. **"Keep your chin up and everything will be fine."** Maria ran away, scared tears falling from her eyes. Her back was against the wall, as amy swung her hammer, smacking the relic off the podium. All the ghosts backed up and Maria looked at the relic again, understanding the warning. She put the stone back in the alter, sun side up. At this, Shadow and everyone else was set free when the ghosts backed up.

"Finally!" Shadow yelled, becoming a blur as he took care of all the small ghosts. "Guys! Get out of here!" He warned, glowing red as he entered his Chaos Boost state. Everyone ran as Shadow stayed behind. "It's just you and me now." Shadow warned as he charged up his spin dash, slamming into the King of Ghosts. Said King was hurled back into the stone wall, collapsing it as Shadow landed, catching his breath and reverting to normal. He grabbed the relic and ran, throwing a Chaos Flare to buy a little bit of time.

Shadow caught up with everyone else. "We need to hurry! I hit him with what I had but-"

"RRHAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Was heard coming from below. Everyone took off as Shadow threw more Chaos Flares, collapsing the stairwell. He made it to the top as Amy slammed the pedestal back into place and Maria put the relic sun side up. They looked around to see it was morning and Shadow collapsed, doing his best to stay conscious.

"Miles...what was this place?" Shadow asked.

"From what I read before everything got crazy, this castle is built on top of an ancient burial ground." Tails responded, helping Shadow up. The Director ran up to them, a police officer on his tail.

"Where have you guys been? We been looking all night." He asked.

"You guys might not want to be hear at night..." Tails warned, telling them the story.

"Wait, so you guys escaped the ghosts?" The officer asked. "From what I hear, nobody has been able to do that."

"Let's get moving." Shadow stated, walking with Tails's help. "I hate ghosts." He stated, Tails chuckling.

"I know...So do I." Tails responded, Shadow giving up a slight chuckle.


	18. Setting the Stage

Special Thanks to Reviewer gwencarson126 for proofreading and helping me with this chapter.

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Shadow stood out on the roof of the Thorndyke Mansion, looking more serious than usual as he blasted off into the city. Ever since they encountered the ghosts, Shadow had been acting weird. Count in the fact that Robotnik had been spotted with a new ship and was on the move, that didn't help his nerves much.

Sam had challenged him to a race, but Shadow blasted the engine with a Chaos Flare when he was rudely woken up. The group had also gone on a cruise, but that ended with Shadow saying it was a waste of time.

There were three more Chaos Emeralds out there, Robotinik was on the move. This wasn't a time to take things easy, and nobody seemed to care!

Maria walked down the set of stairs with Tails and Amy.

"He's just trying to get us home. Don't worry about him." Tails stated. However, he was worried. He'd seen Shadow be determined, but for the past two weeks Shadow had been nothing short of obsessive.

"Miss Maria..." Mr. Tanaka called, getting her attention. "Your father is on the line, would you like to speak to him?"

Maria jumped at the chance, taking the phone excited. "Hey dad, how's it going?" She said in rapid fire. Tanaka chuckled a little bit, knowing why she was so excited. "What? Today? Ok then, that would be great!" Maria said hanging up. "Tails...can we get a ride to Filmdome City?"

"Why do we need to go there?" Tails asked.

"My dad is going to surprise my mom there for her birthday!" Maria answered excited, Tails nodding his head. They left for the X Tornado when they saw Shadow standing in the doorway.

Shadow turned to see them. "Where are you guys headed?"

"To see Maria's parents. You coming?" Amy answered.

Shadow scowled at this. "Another side adventure? Give me a break." Shadow said under his breath, walking past the group.

That one hit Maria, hard. "Hold it." Maria said as Shadow turned. "I don't know what your issue has been lately, but you need to knock it off. We're trying to find the Chaos Emeralds, we are. But we're also living our lives Shadow."

Shadow's fists tightened. "What's this "We've been searching" nonsense? I'VE BEEN SEARCHING while you would rather enjoy life! Robotnik is out there, plotting his next move! And if we don't stop him then your life is going to be cut short. We need to get home Maria." Shadow let out as he walked away.

"I'll get him." Tails stated, running by as Amy came up next to Maria.

Searching for the right words, Amy grabbed Maria's hand. "He's just-"

"Save it." Maria stated flatly. "I get it, he needs to get home. I was just a place to stay at...I just thought I was getting through to him..." Maria said quietly, holding back the tears before shaking her head to keep her emotions in check. "I'll be fine. I always am."  
 _"Just need to keep my chin up...chin...up..."_ Maria still had mist in her eyes.

.

"Shadow, hold on!" Tails yelled, getting in front of Shadow. "Stop for just a minute Shadow, we need to talk."

"Not now Tails." Shadow said walking around him.

Tails wasn't going to take no for an answer. As Shadow walked by, Tails grabbed his wrist. "Shadow, slow down! You're no good if you can't keep yourself upright." Tails stated, trying to reason with Shadow. "I get that you want to go home, I want to go home to. But pushing yourself like this won't get you anywhere but hurt."

Shadow yanked his arm away. "You don't get it Miles. The past two times we've gone out, I wasn't good enough. The missions are getting more dangerous and you know it. If we stay around here much longer, somebody could get hurt."

Tails stood his ground. "Shadow, you don't have to fight alone. We've come out on top every other time. We have four of the Chaos Emeralds, and Knuckles is out there probably searching for one. You've searched everywhere you could. So please, take it easy for now. Maria could really use our support."

Shadow sighed. He'd never say it out loud, but Tails has been the voice of reason more times than should be necessary, including this time. "Fine." Shadow stated, walking back to the others. Shadow sat in the back with Amy, while Tails was up front with Maria.

As they flew through the air, Amy turned to see Shadow starting to close his eyes a bit.  
 _"I just wish you could go back to the way you were..."_ She thought, turning forward.

.

The flight was short, to short for Shadow's interest. They found the room Mr. Thorndyke was staying in. Knocking on the door, Maria rushed in and bear hugged her dad and he hugged her back.

Shadow and Tails stood next to each other when suddenly, the emeralds they had were reacting to...something.

"I'm happy to see you to, honey." Mr. Thorndyke stated as he walked up to Shadow. "And I'd like to thank you for keeping Maria safe." He said, holding his hand out to Shadow.

Deciding to just play the part for Maria's sake, he shook the hand. "It's the least I can do." Shadow stated. Maria introduced everyone else as well, when her father announced his "big plans."

"So you see, I'm going to dress the part of her love interest in the movie. I'll give her the ring and say "With my love", what do you think? Then all of you will yell surprise, and there'll be confetti, and well...you get the point. So, what do you think?" Mr. Thorndyke (Nelson) asked.

"That sounds..." Maria started, trying to find the right words.

 _"Cliched."_ Shadow thought irritably.

"Oh, and here's what the ring looks like. Think she'll like it?" Nelson asked, popping open a ring box and showing...A CHAOS EMERALD! Shadow gasped as his emerald reacted along with Tails's. Nelson closed the box, not expecting it to glow like that.

"The filming is about to begin, sir." Tanaka stated, leading his boss away.

"We need that Chaos Emerald." Shadow stated flatly.

"Shadow, not here. Can it wait until the surprise party is over?" Tails asked, not wanting things to be ruined. Shadow reluctantly nodded, but he was still willing to do whatever it took. They needed to get home, and he wanted to do it now.

However, the energy spike the Emeralds produced was not unnoticed by a giant flying ship, two engines coming out the back and a circular front flew through the air, alarms blaring. Robotnik turned, smirking as he checked his arm, making sure the improvements would work. His arm now had the mass of an actual arm now, but still showed wires and something like ports on the side of it. The Madman smiled darkly, setting a course for Filmdome City.

.

Everything was being set up for the shoot with Nelson, Shadow standing next to the door when he heard his name. Turning he saw Knuckles walking up.

"What is it Knuckles?" Shadow asked.

"Well, I was flying around when suddenly my Chaos Emerald reacted to something." Knuckles answered, seeing his Emerald start to glow as Shadow stepped back away.

"That makes four here. Keep a distance, we don't need anymore attention." Shadow stated. Knuckles nodded, then caught himself.

"Wait, four?" Knuckles asked and soon he heard a commotion, seeing Nelson fall down with the Chaos Emerald roll out of the box, reacting to the other three around it violently.

"GET IT BACK IN THE BOX!" Shadow yelled as Nelson quickly put it away, looking up to see a not so pleased wife.

"What are you doing here!? We're shooting the most important scene!" Lindsey demanded.

"I was just trying to surprise you for your birthday. Sorry I forgot I married a dramatic movie star!" Nelson responded defensively.

The two didn't notice Maria with a pained look on her face as she covered her ears, shaking her head slowly.

"Well how would you like it if I just barged into one of your office meetings and made a fool of myself!?" Lindsey countered.

"Well at least I cared enough to come visit you." Nelson shot back.

"And WHAT is that supposed to mean!?" Lindsey asked offended.

"STOP IT!" Maria yelled, putting her face in her hands. "Stop it, please, just..." She couldn't even finish her sentence as she ran outside, tears in her eyes. Her parents looked at each other, the turning away as Lindsey rubbed her arm and Nelson put his face in one hand frustrated, the two separating from each other.

Shadow sighed. "I'll go check on her." He stated, walking off. Knuckles thought to himself for a moment, coming to his own conclusion.

"Shadow?" Knuckles asked, Shadow turning as Knuckles tossed him the Chaos Emerald. Shadow caught it confused, looking at Knuckles. "You have more of them than me...they're probable safer with you anyways. Just find me before...you know." Knuckles stated as he turned and strolled away.

"Hold it." Shadow got Knuckles's attention, tossing him the wrist communicator. "We'll contact you..." Shadow said as he left to find Maria walking away, tears on her face.

Shadow caught up and seemed at a loss for words for a moment, unsure of how to handle this. "Maria, are you-"

"Yeah Shadow. I am." Maria cut him off. "I'm just fine. Thanks for asking." She stated as she walked faster, doing her best to keep her emotions in check.

 _"Oh boy."_ Shadow thought to himself. "Maria, what's really bothering you?"

"THEY ARE!" Maria blurted out, now becoming a bit of a bumbling mess. "I just want one night where we're together as a family! I just want one night where we can go without either of them arguing, or leaving AGAIN. I get so hopeful every time..." She bumbled out, then looked Shadow dead in the eye. "But what do YOU care? All you want is to go back to your own planet! To get back to your own life before any of this started." At that, Maria noticed the Red Emerald. "That makes six, right? Well, you just need one more of your DAMN EMERALDS to go back your own planet. So go! LEAVE!...I'm used to it." Maria said defeated, breaking down. Shadow was tunned by the outburst. Maria could be a bit outspoken at times, but she always kept her emotions in check. But what really worried him were her eyes, filled with so much hurt pain, and loneliness. Eyes he recognized.

"Maria, I-" Shadow walked up, but wasn't expecting this from Maria. She came up and slapped him across the face, stunning Shadow.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" She yelled, running off. Shadow was to stunned at what just happened. He went to run after her, but Amy cut him off.

"Let her go Shadow. Talk with her in the morning..." Amy advised.

"Amy, I need to-"

"Shadow, trust me on this." Amy stated, and Shadow nodded backing down. The group packed up with Maria riding in the car rather than flying with Tails, Amy, and Shadow. They took off, not knowing the danger from above.

Floating higher in the clouds, safe from view or detection was Robotnik listening in to the whole thing.  
"So...they have six of the Emeralds eh?" he asked himself when his alarm blared again, a scout robot reporting it found the last Chaos Emerald in a junkyard. "Today just gets better and better..." Robotnik said darkly.

.

Once everyone was back at the mansion, Maria stormed off to her room and slammed the door shut, collapsing onto her bed and let out her told Cream she'd explain in the morning as Shadow, Tails, and Chuck left for the garage.

"Tails, this isn't safe. Holding these Emeralds here..." Shadow pointed out. "And I don't think it's a good idea for me to stay here much longer."

"What do you suppose we do?" Chuck asked as Shadow and Tails nodded at each other.

"Tomorrow morning, me, Shadow, and Knuckles are going out on our own." Tails answered. Chuck was surprised, but Shadow cut him off before the questions rambled.

"Listen, I don't want you to be a target. I don't want to see Maria get hurt anymore, or worse. She also had a point today, we need one more Chaos Emerald and we go home." Shadow stated. "We're asking if Cream and Amy can stay here, safe. Amy can fight, but she's a bit to impulsive. The less people with us, the more we can travel and the less stops we'd have to make. I don't completely trust Knuckles, but I know he wants to get home. Probably more than I do." Shadow explained. Chuck leaned back in his chair.

"I understand." Chuck stated. He really did understand their logic, the time had come to send them home. But that didn't mean he had to like it.

"We'll say our goodbye's in the morning. They deserve that at least." Shadow explained, Chuck nodding as he got up.

"Well, then let's not sit here and pretend this is our last meeting. Thank you for telling me." Chuck said sincerely. He shook hands with the two as he walked inside, Tails giving Knuckles their location. He showed up a few hours later, the three of them deciding at what time they'd leave. Tails put the Chaos Emeralds in the X Tornado, thinking they'd be safe as he headed for bed. What they didn't notice was that Maria saw and heard the plan from her window, heading back to her bed as a fresh set of tears came.

Knuckles woke up first, heading outside to watch the sunrise. He gazed at the horizon, thinking of his island back home when he heard something like a whistle. He looked up and saw Robotnik's ship approaching as it fired rockets.

Knuckles smashed through doors. "EVERYBODY WAKE UP!" Knuckles screamed out, but soon an explosion went off behind him. More rockets hit the mansion as Shadow was flung back, getting up quickly and heading down to meet Knuckles."Robotnik found your Chaos Emeralds! Get them out of here, NOW!" Knuckles yelled.

"Not before I get everybody out of here!" Shadow responded, zooming through the wreckage. Shadow found almost everybody when he kicked open Maria's door, seeing her room in flames. But he didn't find a body, and he wasn't sure if that relieved or scared him.

.

"EVERYBODY WAKE UP!" Maria heard just before an explosion rocked the house. She jumped back, as debris fell from the ceiling. Her house was going up in flames around her. Not wasting any time, Maria got out the window, determined to grab the Chaos Emeralds when she found that robots had already beaten her to it as they turned to see her.

.

"Shadow...the Emeralds..." Tails warned between coughs. Shadow burst to the garage to see The X Tornado in a wreck, with the Chaos Emeralds missing.

"SHADOW!" He heard a desperate cry as he looked up to see Maria being taken into the sky, along with all the Chaos Emeralds.

"Thank you for collecting these for me...and don't worry about your precious Maria. She'll live long enough to see my Empire become a reality. GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Robotnik boomed out of his ships speakers as the ship started to leave from the front of the house. Shadow jogged up before bolting away emitting a sonic boom.

"GOOD LUCK SHADOW!" Knuckles yelled out.

 **Has Robotnik finally won? Does Shadow stand any chance, or will he finally meet his match? find out, NEXT TIME on Shadow X!**


	19. Showdown

_(Before reading, I suggest you go and watch the Japanese/English sub of this Episode. The episode number is 26. User I recommend goes by "hookonsonic2". Episode is in three parts. if you don't then one, you're missing out and two, this ending is going to confuse you so much. Thank me later.)_

.

The morning sun was still coming up as everybody was outside, trying to just get to their jobs. A few kids were playing when suddenly, a massive shadow covered the area. Everybody looked up to see Robotnik's ship flying over head as it passed by.

"Wonder what that thing was." One man said before a massive burst of wind flew past him, making a row of cars rumble and the alarm go off as a yellow streak sped by.

Shadow was pushing the limit on safety as it was. He couldn't let Robotnik get away. He wouldn't, but he had to keep himself slow enough not to hurt anybody in the crossfire.

 _"Maria...just hold on..."_ Shadow thought to himself as he followed the ship.

.

In Robotnik's ship, a monitor showed Shadow speeding along after them as Robotnik smiled.

"I knew he wouldn't disappoint." Robotnik stated as Maria was mounted behind his on an emerald green wall made of a special glass.

"Sh-shadow..." She said concerned.

Robotnik turned to her, still grinning. "I wouldn't worry. He's not after you as much as he's after the Chaos Emeralds." Robotnik sneered, nodding to a table where the six Emeralds rested in their slots. "After all, why would he go after you?"

Maria hung her head in shame and tears, remembering yesterday when she slapped him across the face. _"Shadow...I'm sorry."_ She thought defeated.

The ship stayed it's course, heading for the junkyard.

.

At the White House, the President was talking with his advisers and asking how evacuations were going.

"Ever since he showed up, the only thing that's gotten better is evacuation efficiency." The President muttered.

"Sir, our special forces "Stag Beetle" is ready to deploy." One of the advisers said, hanging up his phone.

The President nodded. "And "Chaos Control", any scale of that?" He asked as everyone muttered, looking at each other. "No...we can only hope, right?"

.

Back at what was left of the Thorndyke Mansion, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles went to a shed not far away, opening it to reveal the original Tornado. Tails hopped in the pilots seat, Amy jumped in the passenger seat as Knuckles rode on top of the wings. They took off into the sky, hoping to catch up to Shadow.

.

At a junkyard, Robotnik found his robot holding the White Chaos Emerald. The robot itself had an odd design, full of "good luck charms" all over it.

"Time to come home." Robotnik said eagerly, a claw reaching down. But as soon as the claw made contact, Shadow burst onto the scene, smashing the robot away.

"Did you honestly think I would just roll over!?" Shadow challenged.

"Shadow!" Maria called out.

Robotnik scowled just a bit. "I was hoping you wouldn't. Now I can watch you fail!" Robotnik declared, then raised his eyebrows.

Shadow turned just as a new set of mechs emerged, with the shape of a beetle and tank wheels under it.

 _"Damn it, he's really prepared for this one."_ Shadow thought.

 **"We are the military's elite squad, Super Beetle! Surrender now, or face destruction Robotnik!"** one of the Beetle pilots called out.

"Wait a second!" Shadow exclaimed. "Maria is inside!" But it fell on deaf ears as Beetles drove up, firing laser cannons. Shadow got in front of them, holding his hands up. "WAIT! MARIA IS STILL-" But it was no use. The Beetles fired all their lasers at once, combining before it hit Robotnik's ship and exploding. "MARIA!" Shadow screamed. As the dust settled, Robotnik's ship came out without a scratch as an odd shimmer distorted around it.

"So..." Robotnik voice darkened. "We want to play rough..." He said as missiles fell from his ship.

Shadow ran around, dodging the missile attack and explosions but it was to much. One knocked him back and buried him as the Super Beetles were destroyed, but more came up.

Robotnik looked at the screen, seeing more of the mechs come up but no sign of Shadow. "Hmmm, I guess he-" But he cut himself off as a red dome incinerated debris, showing Shadow in the clearing. "Ah, like I said. He doesn't disappoint." He checked to see his robot flying away, kicked up from the explosions. "Oh no you don't! Not with MY Emerald!" Robotnik yelled as he steered his ship, heading for his lucky charm.

"No you don't!" Shadow said in defiance, running after them. However, the Super Beetles flew beside him as he got an idea. Jumping to his side, he landed on top of the mech, boosting forward while using the horn to launch himself to the next Beetle. He made it to the third beetle before emitting a sonic boom, flying from the horn and in front of Robotnik's ship, diving for "Lucky"

Robotnik turned to face Maria. "I told you he wasn't after you." He taunted.

Maria looked at him dead in the eyes. "He's doing what he can."

"Oh don't worry, I've got more for him in store." Robotnik declared as he saw Shadow nab the Chaos Emerald out of Lucky's hands, falling to the ocean below.

Shadow activated his shoes midair, falling towards a building along the coast. Once he was close enough, Shadow flipped as he skirted along the side of the building trying to take away the impact he would get. He jumped into a somersault on the street below, taking away most of the impact as he he turned and flipped the Chaos Emerald in hand.

"Oh, you dare to challenge me now?" Robotnik questioned, hitting a series off buttons. "WITNESS MY TRUE POWER!" He roared as the ship began to transform. The engine on the back separated as the ship split into three sections. The engines slammed on top of the disk shaped body, sprouting hands while the third part formed legs, connecting to the bottom to form a massive humanoid robot, with Robotnik's cockpit being the head. Gathering plugs, Robotnik connected the ship to his arm and stood up, a holographic screen showing up putting everything into a size comparison. "My latest creation yet, THE EMPEROR!" Robotnik announced on the speakers.

Shadow took a step back as Robotnik landed, water coming up and waves. Regaining his composure, Shadow looked up. "You think size intimidates me? HA!" Shadow challenged as disappeared in a blur, dashing around Robotnik.

Robotnik turned to see Maria. "Hey kid, watch this..." Robotnik hissed, the panel of Chaos Emerald came up and the first one was inserted fully into the slot. The screen in front of Robotnik caught up to the blur as the second Emerald was inserted, the blur becoming a crystal clear image of Shadow.

Maria watched in horror as the other Emeralds went down, making this machine stronger by the second. Soon, all six were inside and glowing. "Shadow...please..." She whispered, shaking with fear.

After building up enough speed, Shadow launched into the air aiming for the cockpit when the mech vanished. Shadow was stunned as he turned to see the mech behind him, throwing a hook punch with it's right arm. It hit Shadow, shooting him through several buildings as he was planted into a wall.

Robotnik was a bit stunned, looking at his arms before smiling evilly. "How was that, Shadow?"

Shadow winced, then looked up. "Maria can slap harder than that." Shadow let out, still wincing just a bit.

"Is that so?" Robotnik asked.

"Robotik, please stop!" Maria begged.

"Silent you brat. I'm going to finish him. This ends today." Robotnik declared, moving forward.

Shadow jumped from the wall, but was slammed down by a fist, embedding him into the ground.

"Shadow!" Knuckles yelled, the Tornado starting to come into view. "Tails, speed this thing up!"

"I'm going as fast as I can, Knuckles!" Tails responded before more of the Super Beetles showed up, rocketing towards Robotnik. However, Robotnik phased up to the mechs, smashing them out of the sky and taking his eye off Shadow. Robotnik looked on, seeing the X Tornado. He was about to make a move for it when

"ROBOTNIK!" Shadow roared out, demanding to be seen. His rings were off as he was engulfed in his massive red flames, Chaos Wrath. Shadow let loose a set of Chaotic Needles, the once small energy spike exploding on the hull of E-99. However, Robotnik moved forward as if nothing happened, heading for Shadow. Shadow let out a barrage of Chaotic Attacks, sending red Chaotic Needles, Spears, and even Flares. They all hit E-99, but to no avail and soon, Robotnik was on top of Shadow and sending it's fist down.

Shadow let loose a Chaotic Blast and that held Robotnik's fist in place, but only for a few seconds before it came crashing down on Shadow. Robotnik kept sending fist after fist on top of Shadow, pumbling him further int the ground. All the while, Robotnik had a cruel smile on his face as he looked into the screen.

Above the action, a military helicopter hovered with Rouge leaning out the side. _"He's really lost it this time..."_ She thought.

Maria struggled in her confinement, screaming at the top of her lungs. "STOP IT, PLEASE JUST STOP! YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS, PLEASE, YOU WIN JUST...just stop!" Maria begged as tears streamed from her eyes, Robotnik turning to face her.

Robotnik lifted his fist, seeing Shadow struggling just to lift his arms. "You're right..." Robotnik said flatly, picking up a beaten and broken Shadow by the back. "I have won." Robotnik stated, letting go of Shadow as he brought his leg up, E-99 kicking Shadow as his head snapped back.

Maria watched in a stunned face, remembering back to her moments with Shadow. (Cue Shining Road instrumental.) _She remembered Shadow lift the piece of the X Tornado and carried her to a hospital, or that time she pulled him out of her pool or ocean. She especially remembered him taking her to that island, even blowing off the President just for her. And her last memory, slapping him across the face. And now, she just watched him die._

"NOOOO!" Maria screamed, shattering the glass she was on and Robotnik turned surprisd as she sped past him grabbing a Chaos Emerald. It glowed as steam rose and burned Maria's hand from the energy output, but she didn't care. She managed to get all six of the Emeralds before she was launched forward, tumbling tumbling downward as her back slammed into the glass cockpit, her arms bunched with the Emeralds to her chest. "Th-they're mine. I wo-won't let you take them from me...never again..." She said weakly and exhausted.

Robotnik gave her a once over. He'd admit, he was impressed by the strength she just showed. Breaking that glass isn't an easy feat. But she took the emeralds out, and she'd pay for that. He was lucky he had reserve power.

The Tornado flew overhead, Knuckles jumping. "RRRHAAAAH!" He roared as he shattered through the top, making his landing and looking up. "Where. Is. Maria!?" He demanded, to focused to turn behind him.

"I see your still the same as ever, still acting cocky when you're nothing but a gullible little-"  
SLAM! Knuckles hit the ground, shutting Robotnik up.

"If you're not talking..." Knuckles said, closing his eyes and unaware of a certain bat that swoops by grabbing Maria. "I can make you talk." Knuckles threatened, moving forward and opening his eyes.

Just outside, Rouge flies with Maria in her arms, along with the Chaos Emeralds. _"All mine..."_ She thought.

"Sh-shadow..." Maria muttered weakly. "Please, take me to Shadow..."

Rouge scoffed at that. "Listen kid, I went through all this and I'm-AH!"  
"SHADOW!" Maria screamed, flexing out and dropping the Chaos Emeralds into the sea below.

 _"Oh, just great..."_ Rouge thought, swooping down and grabbing a passed out Maria. "Now what are we gonna do?" She asked herself before getting caught in a massive grip.

"I DON"T GIVE A DAMN ANYMORE!" Robotnik roared as Knuckles turned to see Rouge trapped with Maria. "The girl damaged it, but then you go and really break it!"

Knuckles ran out, leaping onto the arm to get to the hand as the grip tightened.

"Hang on Maria!" Tails yelled when suddenly from the ocean floor, a shining white light. "What the...?" The ocean started to form a hole, revealing a familiar figure in the center. "Shadow!?"

Amy was behind him, in just as much shock. "It is, but why is he shining in gold like that!?"

From the ocean hole, Shadow emerged bathed in a golden light where he was once black, keeping the red highlights about him. He opened his eyes, focusing on the hand that held Maria and Rouge as it shattered from his focused energy.

Robotnik was stunned, then furious. "You think you've won? You think I'll SURRENDER to YOU!?" He yelled defiantly, using the remaining fist to throw a punch. However, Shadow catches the fist, keeping it in place before the arm could fully extend.

"Knuckles...can you hear me?" Shadow asked. "Get Maria cleared. I'll be with her in a moment." Shadow stated, tensing up before shooting off into a golden streak, ripping through the E-99 and destroying it with ease. As E-99 blew up, a giant white dome appeared. Chaos Control had begun.

As Knuckles reached Maria, Shadow flashed in front of him, grabbing the girl before vanishing into a white void, standing beside her.

"Maria...can you hear me?" Shadow asked. Maria winced, opening her eyes to see Super Shadow. "Thank you Maria...for everything."

Maria teared up. "Shadow, please...take me with you..." She begged. Shadow kneeled down, opening his hand as a teal light enveloped it and healed all the injuries Maria had, even restoring her energy. Maria's eyes shot open, her tears coming out as she embraced Shadow. "Shadow, please don't leave me!"

Shadow hugged her back. "It's going to be ok, Maria. I promise, things will be fine in the end."

"But they won't!" Maria broke down, sobbing into Shadow's shoulder. "No...Shadow, please don't leave. I've never had any real friends other than you guys. Please, I don't want to be alone anymore!" But Shadow started to fade away as Maria's arms went through him, eventually touching a reflective surface as she stared at herself.

 _"Don't worry Maria...keep your chin up and everything will be ok..."_ Shadow's voice echoed.

Maria stared at herself, closing her eyes as she cried out. "SHAAADOOOOOOOWW!" Her voice echoed in the void as it turned into a grassy area. (Cue Shining Road)

 _"Watashitachi no sekai wa, mahoe o, kakerarete."_  
Tails flew overheard, seeing a familiar island.

 _"Aisuru tokimeki sae,namida no, fuujirareteru"_  
Knuckles looks on, seeing the island rise up into the sky.  
 _"Boy (boy) Futari de jumon o sagashi ni ikou"  
"Kinjirareta yuma o kanaerareru kuni he"  
"dare ni mo naisho de ashita machiawaseshi you"_

 _"itsuka kotori o umeta yoake no mieru oka de"_  
Among the ruins of E-99, Robotnik pics up a piece of a tablet with ancient writing on it.

 _"Tsumetai asa mo ya kimi to Te tsunaidara"_  
Maria looks up into the fog, thinking she saw a familiar figure as reporters try and make sense of what they see, thinking they might be of Shadow's world.  
 _"Hikaru micha no fuuin ga tokeruyo"_  
A familiar shape walks out of the fog, and Maria smiles.  
 _"Hateshinaku"_  
Shadow looks at her, smirking as he nods.


	20. Thank you

Hey guys, Spiders922 here. We've made it to the end of Season 1! The next chapters will cover the Chaos Saga, sporting a six month time skip which I will cover briefly in the same chapter. But that's not the main reason I'm doing this part here. I have two people I want to give a personal thanks to.

BlazePyro: You were the first one to review this story and it was only a few hours old when you did. You gave me that push to keep going with the idea and story with your positive review and the other reviews you've given as well. I can not thank you enough. You were there at the beginning. Now, I hope I can entertain you till the end.

gwencarson126: You've been the most active reviewer and I cannot thank you enough for that. With your constant positive reviews, they do help keep me going. And again, another thank you for helping me with chapter 18 "Setting the Stage" which is probably the best chapter written thus far.

Round of applause for those two right there, without them I might've left at chapter 3.


	21. Total Chaos

Knuckles stood near the alter of his home, Angel Island. There he stayed, guarding the Master Emerald. After all this time, he was home. Even if home wasn't on his own planet. For whatever reason, Knuckles couldn't figure out what they were still here on earth, even after that Chaos Control some time ago. But, he guessed it didn't really matter. This was still his home, his island, his responsibility. Knuckles sat down for awhile, pondering on all of this when he heard the Master Emerald shift, then shatter.

 _"Oh no...!"_ Knuckles thought, heading up the steps to find a light blue monster with emerald green eyes. "What have you done..." Knuckles said as he walked towards the monster. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" Knuckles roared as he charged forward, swinging his fists. But the creature turned into a pure liquid state and Knuckles passed harmlessly through it as it disappeared into the jungle. But Knuckles had bigger concerns. The Master Emerald had been shattered and the shards were flung in several directions as his floating Island home fell.

.

 _"BABOOM!"_

"Eh, huh? What?" A big purple cat asked, waking up from his nap. He looked around, seeing the smoking crater as a frog jumped after an odd violet light. "W-wait for me Froggy!" The cat yelled, chasing his frog down. They came up to the crater and saw the source of the light, a Chaos Emerald. "What's that?" He asked, picking the stone up. _"Sure is pretty..."_ The cat was in awe of the gem as his frog turned to the trees oozing out a strange blue liquid.

The frog went over, curious as to what the substance was when it shot forward, into the frogs mouth.

"Huh, what's wrong buddy?" The big cat asked his once hyper frog, now laying still. Suddenly, the frog grew a tail out of his back end, much to the cats confusion. Froggy turned, facing his friend and shot up, stealing the Chaos Emerald. "W-WAIT! Come back!" The cat said, getting up.

.

Maria sat on the window sill, a black T-shirt with blue jeans as she stared into the distance. It had been what, six months already since Chaos Control. She looked around, still remembering when everybody had to hide up here, but that was five months ago. Tails was busy with his workshop, Amy was getting her own place in Station Square despite just turning 15, and Shadow...Shadow just left. No goodbyes, no note...nothing. She thought they put the events from her parents anniversary behind them...guess he wasn't completely over it. And her parents...well...

.

Maria flashed back two months ago, sitting down with her parents.

"Honey...you know we love you, right?" Lindsey asked and Maria nodded, confused.

"Listen, your mom and I..." Nelson spoke up awkwardly. "We've decided to...take a break...from seeing each other for awhile."

That hit Maria between the eyes. "Wh-what?" What did they mean take a break from seeing each other? They hardly saw each other as is!

"Maria?" Lindsey asked. "Honey, are you-"

"I'm fine mom." Maria cut her off, getting up. "See you guys in a few months I guess." Maria muttered as she left for her room, sitting in her bed. Where did things just take a turn?

.

"Maria, Breakfast!" Ella called out, snapping Maria out of it.

"Coming Ella!" Maria responded. She shook her head, trying to keep positive. _"So what if they're not talking anymore? I have a new family. A better one."_ She thought bitterly. She went down the stairs greeting her grandfather, Ella, Cream, and Cheese. She sat down, wolfing the food Ella made.

"My goodness, somebody must be hungry." Ella commented and Maria chuckled a little.

"Sorry Ella. But you know waffles and eggs are my favorite." Maria responded.

Ella smiled at that. Of course she knew what Maria's favorite breakfast was. She's known Maria most of the girls life. Today just...seemed a good day to make it.

"Would you like some toast, Ms. Cream?" Tanaka asked.

"Yes please! and some for Cheese to." Cream responded and her Chao wasted little time going into the toast. Maria smiled at that, then noticed her grandfather staring.

"Maria..." Chuck asked. "How would you like to come with me to the Mystic Ruins? I've got a new air craft I've been meaning to test out at Tails's workshop."

Maria was about to jump at the chance but caught herself. "Actually, me and Cream are heading into the city. Isn't that right Cream?"

"Oh, yes it is!" Cream exclaimed. Maria picked up her backpack, saying she needed to get going to school. Everyone said their goodbye's as Maria left the house, looking to the sky and wondering where Shadow was.

.

In the middle of the desert, Shadow stood in the center of large stones. He turned his back, firing a Chaos Spear through one rock before he launched a Chaos Flare at another. He quickly turned, focusing on a location before he flashed a blue color, appearing behind a third rock as he shot a volley of Chaos Needles into it.

Shadow flexed his hands, opening and closing them. _"Well...that's that. Time to get back to the city..."_ He thought, figuring trouble would be waiting for him.

.

Amy sat in the window sill of her apartment in station square sipping tea, her T.V having news covering what happened six months ago. _"I thought having my own place would be better, but it's no fun being alone. Nobody to talk to..."_ Amy thought as she sighed, setting her tea down. "It was great...having all my friends around. Every day was like a new adventure. Even when Shadow was being a self righteous jerk, he always made us feel safe." Amy said and smiled, before frowning. "Then he went and just disappeared without a trace! He couldn't even leave a note!" She said angry. She huffed out, calming herself down as she closed the winow, the news catching her attention.

"The authorities are still unaware of the location of the terrorist known as Dr. Robotnik, who seemingly dropped off the face of the earth after his battle with Shadow the Hedgehog." The reporter stated.

.

Elsewhere, a series of familiar shapes sat in the dark when suddenly, their eyes lit up red. A door opened in front of them as a line of four Shadow replicas stood still.

"Destroy them." Robotnik stated, the three robots raising their left arms showing different weapons on each of them.

The first one lit up with orange highlights on its spiked quills with a grenade launcher for a left arm, firing a grenade and destroying the Shadow replica.

The second one lit up with green highlights with a mini rocket launcher, firing a rocket as it blew the target up.

The third had blue highlights with a round and thick left arm with something like pincers coming from the front, firing several bullets and tearing its target apart.

The lights came on to reveal they all looked like Shadow, with a silvery chrome color instead of black. Robotnik walked over, laughing to himself.

"Excellent. These should be able to finally stop that irritating rodent from getting in my way." Robotnik stated to nobody in particular. He turned back to the control console, looking at the Red Chaos Emerald in his possession. "Let's start some Chaos why don't we? GAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

From the ocean rose a massive battle ship, massive engines on the back holding several rocket engines, a giant rectangular panels on each side ending with spikes, the underside jutting out a bit, black steel with a rust red highlights about the ship. "The Carrier"

Robotnik typed in a few commands as the panels on the side went out, turing downward and raising up as the engines and piece that jutted out slightly descended, becoming an attack mode.

"Hehehehe, BLAST OFF!" Robotnik stated as he moved a lever forward, the engines igniting as the ship shot forward.

.

Maria's day was...uneventful. School was still a bore as ever, if not worse. She walked through the city with Cream and Cheese when something caught Maria's eye.

"Cream, is that a...?" Maria asked as they went to a jewelry store and Cream gasped.

"It is..." She stated. What they saw on display was a glowing yellow gem, a familiar shape about it. "A chaos Emerald..."

Maria thought fast. They needed that gem, or somebody else would take it. She didn't think twice before she bought the gemstone. It's not like she was going to miss the money, she had plenty. Not that she just threw the money around, but she certainly wasn't a heavy spender. She and Cream walked along, Cream holding the gem.

"It's so pretty..." Cream stated.

Maria lightly laughed, forgetting just how young Cream actually was at times. "We should get that home, maybe Grandpa can get it to Tails or something." Maria suggested as Cream nodded.

As they were walking, a frog came hopping through and slammed into Cheese, knocking the two out. Cream ran up, nudging Cheese to try and wake him up when they noticed the abnormality of the frog.

 _"Why does this one have a tail?"_ Maria thought when she heard a voice.

"FROGGY!" a giant purple cat came running up, but tripped over himself and fell right on top of Cream and Maria, the frog coming to and quickly hopping away. "Froggy, wait up! Ohhhhhh" The cat groaned disappointed. That's when he noticed he was laying on top of other people. He got up when Cream tilted her head and gasped.

"Mr. Big! Is that you?!" Cream asked.

"Oh, hey Cream!" The cat asked.

Maria was shocked. Another Mobian? Now? And he seemed to have a history with Cream and Cheese. Maria introduced herself, asking if the frog was his. Mr. Big confirmed and asked if the two of them could help. Considering they had nothing better to do, they agreed. However, they didn't think it would take them into the late evening.

"We've been out here looking for hours...maybe we should try again in the morning." Maria suggested when a bush beside them moved, oozing out a strange blue liquid. "What the heck is that?"

"That looks like the same stuff Froggy swallowed before he grew a tail and ran!" Mr. Big stated as the group backed up, the liquid forming a somewhat human shape with two spines flowing out of the back of it's head.

"Is this another Mobian?" Maria asked.

"Not one that I know..." Cream stated a little uneasy. The creature turned to Cream, fixated on the box the Chaos Emerald was inside. It reached out and the three bolted...that was a mistake.

The creature roared angrily as it started to give chase, smashing anything in it's path, attracting a lot of attention from the police.

"FIRE, FIRE!" An officer yelled, a line of police firing their guns. But the bullets hit the monster, then fell doing nothing but making it angrier. It ran forward, smashing the police cars as the people retreated. Maria however felt a strange twist in her knee as she fell, the monster right on top of her as it raised a hand, preparing to strike. Maria braced herself for the attack.

"RRAAH!" Was heard before a gust of wing blew past, slamming into the monster and launching it back. "I see a brain in there so I suggest you use it." Maria looked up and saw...

"SHADOW!?" She asked. Shadow turned his head to acknowledge her, then turned back to face the creature. Shadow ran forward, spin dashing the creature back and bounced off, skidding the monster back.

 _"What the-"_ Shadow thought as his hands sparked a green flame that died out almost immediately. However, that pause was all that was needed and the monster ran forward, smacking Shadow away.

Maria stood back up, looking around and noticed a steel pipe laying down, broken by the monsters rampage. She picked it up, going behind the monster. "BACK OFF!" She yelled and brought the pipe down. But as she made the hit, it was rebounded. Maria backed up, shaking her hands as the monster turned to face her.

"No!" Shadow yelled, running forward and grabbing Maria away as the monster brought its claw down.

"Stay here." Shadow said flatly as he set Maria down, turning and revving up a spin dash. He shot forward, slamming through the creatures head as it fell in a puddle, retreating into a sewer cover. The group kept their distance, but took a look.

Suddenly, the box Cream was holding was snatched up by a small red claw coming from none other than Robotnik.

"I hope you've enjoyed your little vacation because I'm rested and ready to rumble!" Robotnik announced. "So, I see you and Chaos got off on the wrong foot, so how about another round?" Robotnik mocked as he threw the box and the Emerald landed in the now reforming puddle.

"Chaos" stood back up, but was now slightly taller with a skeletal arm in the right side, a shining yellow light in the hand area.

"Wait, Chaos!" Shadow asked.

"Oh, that's right Shadow. This thing is made entirely of Chaos Energy! And with each emerald, he gets stronger!" Robotnik announced. "When I have all seven Chaos Emeralds, he'll be unstoppable! NOW GET HIM CHAOS!" Robotnik ordered. Shadow backed everyone up when he heard another voice.

"NOT SO FAST!" Knuckles came charging in, knocking the hand away. "Robotnik! What have you DONE!" Knuckles cried out. "Why would you DARE do this!"

"Knuckles, what's going on?" Shadow asked.

"The Master Emerald is destroyed, and it released Chaos!" Knuckles briefly explained. Shadow was about to question that When Robotnik cut in.

"Ah uh-uh Knuckles! No spoiling secrets!" Robotnik stated, holding a Red Chaos Emerald as he tossed it. Chaos caught the Emerald, growing a little bit more as another skeletal arm formed on the left arm, with a red glow in its hand.

Knuckles and Shadow jumped back as an attack came, smashing the ground. Shadow landed and immediately shot forward in a spin dash, but was blocked by an electric field around Chaos's body. Knuckles went in for a punch, but was rejected away. Chaos raised its right arm and shot a beam of concentrated water. Shadow reacted fast, pulling Knuckles away as the blast left a gash in the concrete.

"Knuckles, what are we dealing with here and how do we stop it?" Shadow asked.

"We have to hit it till it falls. As for what it is, later." Knuckles explained. Chaos turned to face them as it shot another beam, busting through the building Shadow and Knuckles were on. The two nodded at each other and separated.

Shadow went at it from the front, dodging the water and he held Chaos's attention and Knuckles came from up top and slammed into Chaos. Shadow ran up a building, sure that Knuckles would finish it but as he looked down, he saw that electric filed around Chaos again. Shadow growled a little, spin dashing downward as he slammed into Chaos, trying to break through. However, he had a weird feeling as Chaos roared, standing up when Shadow was knocked back. Looking up, he saw Chaos kneeling before it stood back up.

"With only two Emeralds, you two don't stand a chance! Just imagine what he'll be like with all seven!" Robotnik taunted.

"Shadow, listen carefully." Knuckles stated, and Shadow looked at him. "There's a slight "cooldown" when he does the electric field. We have to hit him then." Knuckles explained and Shadow nodded, bolting away as Knuckles went in for the attack. He baited the electric field as Shadow built up speed throughout the city, lighting it up with his yellow blur. Knuckles jumped away at the last second when Shadow slammed through Chaos, complete with a sonic boom. This time, Chaos collapsed in another puddle. He didn't get back up.

"RRRRR, You were lucky this time, but that won't last forever!" Robotnik threatened as he took Chaos and flew away. Shadow wobbled a bit as Knuckles caught him.

"Knuckles...what was that thing?" Shadow asked.

"We'll talk later." Knuckles stated, nodding towards Cream. Shadow understood as Cream came up excited.

"Shadow! You're back!" She yelled, hugging Shadow.

Not expecting that, Shadow faltered a bit before putting a hand on Creams head. "Sorry. I had some...business to take care of." Shadow vaguely stated. He gave a slightly irritated look towards Big, then looked at Maria.

Maria wasn't sure what to think. He'd been gone for 5 months and no explanation? The two looked at each other and Shadow nodded. Maria wanted answers. But judging from the way he needed help from Knuckles beforehand, he probably wasn't in much shape right now. But she would get them.

Shadow looked to the sky, wondering what was going on. He felt weak during what should have been an easy fight. Maria was ticked at him, but wasn't pressing for answers right now. He was grateful, but he knew he'd need to spill at some point. She deserved that much.

 _"Chaos...what was he? And what about my powers?"_ Shadow thought.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Maria stated. Shadow nodded his agreement. They won this fight, but the war has just begun.


	22. Raising the Stakes

Maria was in a jungle area, looking around as a shadow flew by. Her regular clothes were swapped into a white fighting outfit, her hands wrapped in gauze and sports tape. She saw movement in the corner of her eye as she went for the strike, thrusting her hand into the bush but pulled back from the thorns. She shook her hand before a hard shove knocked her forward. Getting back up quickly, she heard movement all around her. Shaking her head, she closed her eyes and focused. The wind blew as the trees rustled, the wildlife getting out of the way of...something. She heard a twig snap behind her and turned, bringing her fist up. A figure jumped back and Maria gave chase, throwing punches when she got close.

Finally, the figure stopped and turned to fight. Maria threw a back fist but it was caught and shoved aside. Using the momentum, Maria turned and brought her leg up, intending to smack her opponent with her heel. However, her foot was caught as she was thrown aside. She was getting back up when a fist planted itself next to her head, as she looked up and saw Knuckles right before her. The two glared at each other before Knuckles smirked, offering a hand.

"You've been getting better." Knuckles commented as he helped Maria up as much as he could.

"Yeah well you try fighting, well, you when you have no experience." Maria grumbled.

Knuckles laughed at that. "I'm serious though Maria. You are getting better at fighting. I just don't really have any other way of teaching you. Well, no sensible means." Knuckles replied, helping to get the tape off her hands. They heard something else coming and they backed away as Shadow skid up to everyone. "Maria, this is the last time we're going to do this for awhile. I need to get out to hunt down the Master Emerald pieces. But I need a word with Shadow for a minute. Alone." Knuckles explained.

"Is this about that Chaos creature? I want to help to." Maria replied.

"I know you do. But this is one you'll have to sit out for now. Head back home, get some food in your stomach. You'll need it." Knuckles stated. Maria was about to argue when her stomach rumbled. She gave a nervous chuckle as they all walked to the Master Emerald alter, Shadow saying he'd catch up when he was done here. Maria gave a delayed nod. It was obvious whatever they were about to discuss, it wasn't something she should hear. She walked on and Shadow began the discussion in silence when she was out of earshot.

"So...Chaos. What was he?" Shadow asked.

Knuckles sighed, turning to face him. "Chaos was...a harsh subject. According to ancient guardian lore, he was a supposed "god of destruction", who's wrath could destroy the world." Knuckles explained. "Nobody knew where he comes from, or why he's so angry, but apparently my ancestors from ancient past enraged this so-called god and it destroyed them. One however, was able to seal Chaos inside the Master Emerald. From there, his tale gets so old as it becomes legend...until now."

"How did it get out and more importantly, how do we stop him?" Shadow asked as Knuckles shook his head.

"It's not that easy." Knuckles stated. "I don't know how Chaos was sealed inside the Master Emerald. And if I did, well..." Knuckles trailed off, nodding towards the empty Emerald Shrine. "As for how he got out, I'm not sure. Maybe Robotnik had something to do with it. He's insane enough to go for it. Now, if you'll excuse me..." Shadow nodded, wishing Knuckles luck on his quest. "Hey, Shadow." Shadow turned around. "Be careful. It's made of pure Chaos Energy, and we both know how dangerous that can be when enough is-"

"I understand, Knuckles." Shadow cut him off. "But I'm not just going to sit back and let everyone else fight this one. I'll stave him off as long as I can, but you need to get the Master Emerald back together and figure out how to seal Chaos away again." The two nodded at each other as Shadow turned away and bolted, finding Maria ahead as he scooped her up and continued his run. Soon, they were at the rebuilt Mansion.

Maria wolfed down the food as Shadow talked with Mr. Big, barely able to tolerate the dope until Big mentioned a purple rock that Froggy swallowed before he ran off.

"Maria..." Shadow caught the girls attention. "I need you to head out and try to find that frog of his. I think it swallowed a Chaos Emerald."

"And what about you?" Maria asked, a slight yet unintentional edge to her voice.

"I need to find other Emeralds. Get help from Tails if I can." Shadow stated as he started walking out the door when Maria caught his arm.

"Hold it Shadow." She stated. "I have questions that need answers."

Shadow nodded. "I understand, and I'll answer any that I can in time. But not right now." Shadow explained. Maria didn't like it, but decided she had to accept that response for now. Besides, he was sending her out to find a Chaos Emerald. That had to amount to something...right? Or was he just trying to get her out of the way? She didn't know, or simply didn't care. Even she was unsure how she felt about it. She went back to the table, finishing the food.

.

Shadow had made it to Tails's workshop in the Mystic Ruins. The odd part is this place looked better than that shack Tails had back on Mobius. Shadow walked in and saw the X Tornado rebuilt, along with hearing snoring as he found Tails passed out on the workbench. He tapped Tails's shoulder and Tails woke up with a slight start, shaking his head.

"Hey there." Tails heard, turning to see-

"Shadow!" Tails exclaimed. "Where've you been? It's been-"

"Awhile, I know. But listen, Robotnik has-" Shadow explained the events of yesterday, how Chaos was able to level a city block with Knuckles and himself hard pressed to stop him. And that it gets stronger with Every Chaos Emerald it gets, with the two in it's possession now. "-which is why we need to get the Chaos Emeralds as fast as we can. You got any leads?"

Tails chuckled a little bit. "As it just so happens..." Tails stated, walking over to the rebuilt X Tornado. "I do." Tails stated as he opened a part of the X tornado, producing the Green Chaos Emerald. "I found this one yesterday. It should make tracking them down a bit easier."

"Good work Tails." Shadow stated, then looked down a bit. "And Miles, I-"

Tails nodded. "I know. You had your reasons. But you're back now, and that's what counts, right?" Tails asked as Shadow nodded. The two got in the X Tornado and flew off, determined to get the remaining Emeralds.

.

Knuckles flew into the city as he saw smoke. He made it to the source, a casino that was heavily damaged when he heard reports of some weird glowing shard that smashed into the building. Deciding to have a look for himself, Knuckles found a piece of the Master Emerald. As he took it, he felt an odd energy shift as his vision changed.

Suddenly, Knuckles was back at the Emerald Shrine, but things were different. The shrine was ancient, so why did these look brand new? He walked along to investigate when he saw something that shocked him.

"We must stop this invasion father!" He heard a girl protest. But when he got up, they were other Echidna's...like him. He's seeing the past, but only a piece of it. But why? His questions would have to go unanswered as he was ejected back into the present when he heard footsteps and decided to bail. The only way to uncover the truth is to get those shards!

.

Back with Shadow and Tails, they flew over a grassy plain with strange rock formations coming out of the ground when the Chaos Emerald detected something. They landed, searching the area when the wind blew in, hard. The two continued onward, keeping sure of their footing when the ground lit up in a light blue.

"This must be the spot." Tails thought out loud and Shadow jumped, spin dashing midair as he slammed underground and popped back up with the Cyan Chaos Emerald, handing it to Tails.

The wind blew again, this time carrying a sinister laugh. "Gyahahahaha!" Robotnik laughed as he saw the two. He pressed a few commands and fired a rocket, impact just in front of Tails and Shadow as the Chaos Emeralds flew out of Tails's hands.

As Shadow was getting back up, he saw Robotnik scoop up the Emeralds and float back. "HOLD IT!" Shadow roared as he ran forward. Robotnik laughed as he threw the Chaos Emeralds in the water. _"What was that for?"_ Shadow thought as Robotnik continued to laugh. Then, Shadow felt very uneasy as up from the water rose Chaos in a new form. Gone were the "bones" in it's arms, but the remained in the hands. Chaos had something of a humanoid shape, but the legs were that of a tail as the Green Emerald was in the pelvic area, and the Cyan Blue was part of a "spine" for Chaos.

Shadow started to shake a little bit which Tails found weird. He'd seen Shadow scared before, even start to loose his nerve, but this wasn't it. Shadow looked like he was struggling with... something.

Chaos raised an arm, swinging it outward as a energy wave forced Tails and Shadow back. They both landed but as Shadow got back up, his hand lit up in a green flame.

"Playing with fire? Time to burn!" Shadow challenged as he launched into a spin dash. However, Chaos went back underwater and Shadow came out of the spin dash, landing on a giant lily-pad. He looked around when his ground shook, jumping back as a giant water spout came up. Shadow breathed heavier as he decided to let his energy loose, forming an odd green flame that enveloped him. He slammed into Chaos, launching off the monster and landing on dry land. Tails came up to check on him "Stay back Miles! something's wrong and I don't know how to...RRAAAAHH!" Shadow screamed as he unleashed a barrage of Chaos needles into the water. Chaos However wasn't done as it resurfaced. "LET'S GO!" Shadow roared as he popped off his rings, enveloping himself in an odd yellow-green flame as he charged forward. Chaos raised its hand, shooting out a stream of highly concentrated water. But Shadow teleported in a flash behind Chaos, forming a yellow spear and threw it straight through the brain of Chaos. He landed back with Tails and kneeled down, huffing as the flame around him subsided. Tails ran over, handing Shadow his inhibitor rings. Shadow took them, placing them back on his wrists as he heard Robotnik's tired speech of revenge as he scurried off...into a massive battleship.

"Shadow, are you ok?" Tails asked concerned.

"I'm fine Tails...I feel better now." Shadow stated. And it was true, he was feeling a bit better now that Chaos was... gone.

"Shadow, what's going on?" Tails asked. He'd never seen Shadow produce that color flame before, or even teleport. That was a new one.

"I'll explain later Miles. But right now we need to get moving!" Shadow replied as Tails nodded, the two of them heading back to the X Tornado.

.

Amy was walking along in Station Square, when suddenly the sky darkened. She looked up to find Robotniks giant battle ship in the sky, followed closely by the X Tornado.

Tails fired away, dodging the return fire as Robotnik sent out another laser canon, a silvery color with light green "eyes" as it targeted the X Tornado, firing away. Tails however was still an expert pilot as he weaved out of the way, locking onto the turret and fired a volley of missiles on the turret, destroying it while damaging Robotnik's engine. The metal warped around from the damage as a small bird fell from the ship.

The small bird fell, landing on Amy's head. As she was recovering, she noticed the odd tablet with a small blue gemstone around it's neck, wondering what the tablet was. But she knew what the bird was...a flickey, native to the one and only Mobius.

Tails kept flying, keeping up with the Carrier when Robotnik laid out a massive cannon. It charged up as Tails got close, then fired before Tails even noticed. He pulled up, but one of the engines was hit on the X Tornado and they were going down. He knew they were going to crash, there was no way around that. But Tails was determined to be able to walk away from this one. They skid across a grassy field, hitting the ground hard enough to knock Tails unconscious.

.

"Uh, wha-where am I?" Tails muttered as he finally came to. He sat up and winced, having the mother of all headaches.

"Ah, good. You're awake." He heard, looking over to see Chuck. "How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts...where's Shadow?" Tails asked, looking over to see Shadow crashed out on the chair across from him.

"He got you out of the wreckage and carried you here. Said you made it as best a landing as you could before he fell over and passed out." Chuck explained, then looked back over to Shadow. "What I don't get is how he's completely uninjured. I doubt there's even a bruise on him."

Tails nodded. "There probably isn't. Shadow's Chaos abilities help him heal at an accelerated rate, even by Mobian Standards. I haven't seen him with a broken bone at all. And if he did break something, I never noticed." Tails explained as Shadow started coming around.

"Oh, good. You're up." Shadow stated, shaking his head and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He then looked at the news. "Where's Cream and Cheese?"

"They went out shopping with Amy. I hope they stay out of trouble..." Chuck stated as Shadow stood up, his back popping a bit as he said he'd be back.

.

Back in Station Square Amy, Cream, and Cheese were walking along with a bunch of grocery bags in hand.

"Shadow and Tails looked pretty banged up, but I bet they'll feel a bit better they eat a meal we cook them." Amy talked with Cream.

Cream nodded. "Yeah, and I get to try all those recipe's Ella's been teaching me."

"Right Cream. And of course, we'll need your help to Cheese." Amy assured after hearing Cheese having a little fit over wanting to help. She looked over at the flickey, noting how fast it healed up.

"I wonder where it came from, or if it has a name..." Cream said curiously.

The flickey spouted off...something. But neither Amy or Cream could understand what the little guy was saying. Deciding to give it a name, Amy called it Lily. The Flickey seemed to like the name so Lily it is. Then, Amy noticed a weird looking robot in front of her. Bulky green exterior, skinny arms with big boxing glove like hands, and two red eyes. "What the heck in that thing?" Amy asked as it moved forward.

"Target found." The robot sated. the next thing heard was a scream.

Shadow ran around corners until he saw Cream on the ground, a bag of food scattered around her.

"Cream, are you alright?" Shadow asked before looking up to see Amy holding a Flickey in her hands, a robot carrying her away over it's shoulder. "Hang on Amy!" Shadow yelled as Amy struggled, but was taken to the sky. Shadow ran up the side of a building teleporting in a flash of blue right behind as he grabbed a hold of Amy's hand. However, he got a bad grip as he fell, landing on the roof of a building as he looked up into the sky. _"Amy...I'm sorry."_


	23. A Daring Chase

In the mountains, Knuckles searched around as he held out the shards of the Master Emerald. He'd already gathered few, but it was nothing of what it could be.

 _"I was supposed to PROTECT the Master Emerald. And now it's shattered..."_ Knuckles grimly thought as he marched onward. _"And these flash backs...what do they mean?"_

Knuckles thought back to his latest flash, the Shrine burning and in ruins. He shook his head as the Emerald shards in his hand started to glow, meaning more were around. He came to the base of a cliff side as he charged up, ready for more pieces of the Master Emerald.

.

At the Thorndyke Mansion, Tails was putting on a replacement engine and wings on the X Tornado, making sure they would be able to fly no problem. Amy was captured somewhere out there, and they needed to find her before...

"Miles, are you sure about this?" Shadow asked. "You only just got over a concussion. Let me fly solo on this one."

"I feel fine Shadow." Tails responded. "Besides, I haven't shown you how to fly this thing. There's a lot of things you don't see in the backseat."

Shadow had to admit, a point was made. He didn't even try to make time to learn much of the X Tornado. "If you're sure about this... I'm not doubting your skills as a pilot, but-"

"Shadow...I'm fine." Tails confirmed. "We're a team, and that means we stick together."

Shadow looked away a little, thinking a bit. A team...they hadn't been one since...well, It's been awhile. They took to the blue sky, heading over a lake as he saw Maria and Big...fishing. Shadow brought his hand to his face. At least Maria was out of danger.

.

Maria was bored out of her mind. She thought she'd be helping Mr. Big find Froggy, not watch him fish.

"Um..Mr. Big?" Maria piped up, getting the Mobians attention. "Shouldn't we be trying to find Froggy instead of fishing?"

Big chuckled just a little. "Don't worry, I know exactly what I'm doing." Mr. Big stated. Maria wasn't sure if she was relieved or worried about that. She looked up and saw the X Tornado flying by.

However, deeper under the surface of the water Robotnik's ship stayed. She banged on her cell, demanding to be let out, but there was no answer. She sighed as she sat down.

"I was all set to get Shadow and Tails to settle down a bit." She said out loud to Lily. "Shadow's always so wound up, but I know he has a weakness for food. That part o him hasn't changed at all. I was finally going to make him smile again...but then Robotnik went and spoiled everything again." Amy sighed. "Every time he seems to be better, something goes wrong. He just won't let his guard down anymore...maybe that's why all of us are still alive." She said, remembering when she was wandering an area he told her not to go to. She was attacked but Shadow somehow showed up and saved her. Gave her a scolding, but he'd do it again in a heart beat. "It just...isn't fair."

.

Back up on the bridge of the ship, Robotnik had a monitor on showing Froggy as he talked into a microphone.

"Listen up, Shadow Androids. As you see on the screen here, this frog is having a bit of an abnormality. I need you to find this frog at all costs as he is holding something very dear to me. NOW GET HIM OR YOU'LL ALL BE TURNED INTO SCRAP!" Robotnik threatened as the Shadow Androids bowed, heading out the door. _"And if they find Shadow...even better."_

.

Knuckles smiled. He just found a mother load of Master Emerald shards. Grabbing the biggest one, his world started to fade away as he was enveloped in a bright light, with a familiar feeling.

Knuckles looked around, seeing the grassy plains and a new Master Emerald Shrine. He walked up to see that female Echidna at the base of the Alter, praying as Chao surrounded her.

"i'm frightened..." She stated. "Please, we have to end the madness. We must flee Chaos." She begged as Knuckles's eyes widened. Was she praying to CHAOS!? If that's the case, why was everything so peaceful? None of this makes sense. As the Chao surrounded the girl, they lead her up to the top of the shrine as a giant emerald green gem shined. "Chaos? You brought me up here...why?" She asked curiously to the shining Master Emerald. "I understand. The Servers are the Seven Chaos...The Controller, serves to unify the Chaos..." Knuckles watched the whole thing in awe as his vision started to white out again.

When he was able to see, Knuckles was back at the Master Emerald Shrine. He looked around, confused on what just happened.

 _"Who was she? And did she unleash Chaos on my ancestors?"_ Knuckles thought. But for some reason it just didn't sit right with him. _"No...no it doesn't make any sense. Chaos was called the god of destruction by his ancestors...but he seemed peaceful unless-"_

"Unless he didn't choose that title..." Knuckles rounded out. As little sense as that made to him right now...it felt right. He brought the pieces to the Alter Shrine, placing them in the center as the Master Emerald formed up...with a chunk missing from the top. "I'll just have to keep looking." He resolved. Then, he saw an image of Robotnik's battle ship. "That must be where the last of them are...or worse." As he was walking away, a he heard a voice over the wind.

"The Seven Servers...Are The Seven Chaos..." Knuckles turned, looking around. He shrugged, moving on. After all, it had to be the wind because nobody was there. And he wasn't afraid of ghosts.

.

Back at the fishing area, Maria was just getting frustrated. Part of her wanted to think Shadow really did think she'd find a Chaos Emerald. Another thinks she did it just to keep her out of the way. Either thought wasn't really helping her much when she heard a gun shot behind them, making her and Mr. Big jump a little. She creeped up slowly and saw three robots that looks like silvery versions of Shadow, each sporting a different highlight on the quills. The blue one went down, picking up a scared frog as Big gasped.

The androids looked over, seeing nothing as Maria and Big hid themselves in the bushes. The androids looked at each other as they walked away, Big and Maria following suit when the Carrier burst out of the water, opening the hatch letting the Androids in.

"We can't let them leave, come on!" Maria whispered, running after the ship entrance with Big hot on her tail. They made it just as the ramp was closing and Big lost his footing, tumbling down on top of Maria. Their landing did not go unnoticed as the orange and Green android turned, walking towards them as they put their weapons to the intruders heads.

"Hold it!" Robotnik ordered as he walked in as the Green one hoisted Maria up and the Orange one took Big. "You again? Haven't we played this game enough times?" Robotnik asked, getting in Maria's face. Maria gathered what she could as fast as she could and spit in Robotnik's face. He backed up and smacked her with the back of his hand, hard. "I'll teach that mouth of yours someday. Maybe if I removed it...or replaced it." He threatened and that unnerved Maria. "Take them to the brig where we keep the other pests. And bring me the bird!" He ordered as Maria and Mr. Big were hauled away.

They arrived at the brig, filled with holding cells like some sort of jail along with a table surrounded by...lab equipment. Maria started to shake a little as she was thrown in a different cell than Big, when the Green Android turned to face Amy.

"Let us go you bolt brain!" Amy demanded, but was pushed aside as Lily was torn from her hands. The orange one closed the cell on her, electrifying it when Amy touched the bars. What was weird was the robot seemed to laugh a little before it eyed Maria, then walked away.

.

Knuckles had been chasing the Carrier for some time now, but had no way of actually reaching it until...

"Knuckles!" Shadow yelled as He reached his arm out, Knuckles taking it as they flew by. "I assume you're heading after Robotnik to?" Shadow asked and Knuckles nodded, Tails gaining altitude as they drew near Robotnik who saw them on his monitors.

"That irritating jet is STILL AFTER US? No more. FIRE AWAY!" Robotnik roared as bullets came flying. Tails went completely on the defensive as Shadow and Knuckles held on for dear life.

Shadow pulled back his glove, tapping his communicator. "Miles, me and Knuckles are going to clear you a landing Zone. Make sure you don't miss it." Shadow stated as he and Knuckles jumped, falling into the fire below. They landed and went off towards different sides, clearing out the turrets as Tails made the landing. "We have to find Amy, and hopefully sabotage this ship." Shadow stated, and the three heroes nodded at each other, springing into action. But something just felt...off about this with Shadow. He'd have to wait and see what was in store for him.


	24. Controlled Chaos

Shadow, Tail, and Knuckles had made it onto the Carrier, ready to do some damage. Shadow zoomed forward in between Knuckles and Tails as Robotnik fired missiles further from the ship. Shadow zig zagged along the hull, dodging the missile as one was heading for Knuckles and Tails. Turing around, Shadow formed up his green energy spear in his hands, throwing it and destroying the rocket.

Knuckles looked on the new gaps in the ship, saying he'd do what he could from the inside but he NEEDED the last pieces of the Master Emerald. Bidding his farewells, Knuckles jumped inside a hole, determined to end his search.

"Let's Go, Tails!" Shadow exclaimed, the two of them heading for the bridge of the ship.

.

Mr. Big looked around in his cell, wondering what to do. When he heard a banging, looking over to see Amy with her massive hammer pounding away at her bar doors, but to no avail. She sat back, tired and desperate. Mr. Big tilted his head, looking at the lock on his cell as he thought for a second, forming a fist.

BANG!

He punched the lock at it shattered from his brute strength alone. He went over to Maria and Amy's cell, breaking them out as Maria said they needed off this ship.

"Not without Lily!" Amy stated desperate. The three nodded at each other and ran down the halls of the ship, finally making it outside...and right into the Green and Orange Androids. The group stopped dead in their tracks as they heard Robotnik laugh, telling his creations to get ready to fire.

.

Shadow was running along the ship when something caught his eye. Amy, Big, and Maria had been cornered. Of course Maria would find a way here. But what concerned him most were the robots that he saw. They looked like...him. Except for the obvious color swap and the fact their collective left arms were weapons, but it wouldn't matter. They'd all be scrap just the same.

"Miles, you find a way to ground this ship. I'm going after Robotnik." Shadow stated as Tails nodded, ready to do a little destruction.

Shadow spin dashed straight in the middle of the stand off, gaining every ones attention. "Making bad copies of me now Robotnik? You really have lost it." Shadow taunted.

Robotnik chuckled, ordering his androids to fire away. Shadow ran forward, colliding with the blue one before it could get a shot off as Everyone else scattered to go on their own.

Shadow jumped to avoid a rocket shot at him, he wasn't going to dodge the grenade coming his way. Thinking fast, Shadow threw a Chaos Needle into the grenade, detonating it but caught in the blast as he was thrown back. He looked up to see all Three robots standing there before raising their guns and firing away. Shadow ran to the side, keeping ahead of the fire when the Androids when the Green one fired in front of Shadow, knocking him off balance as the blue one rushed up and planted his foot into Shadow's gut. As Shadow was getting up, the Orange Android shot a grenade as it bounced in front of Shadow then detonated, flinging him back and over the edge of the ship.

"Primary Mission: Complete..." They said in unison when they heard a defiant roar, Shadow leaping into the air as he had a red aura around him. Teleporting behind them, Shadow jumped and kicked the Orange Android in the back of it's head, then spin dashed into the blue one as he continued the assault, scraping the Android o the metal. The Green Android fired another rocket as Shadow jumped into the air, the rocket hitting the Blue Android destroying it, with an unheard last "Mission Complete."

As Shadow landed, he went after the Green Android and teleported once again, this time into the air as he formed up his Chaos Spear in hand, throwing it into the chest Android, killing it instantly. "That just leaves you and me..." Shadow said darkly, turning to see the Orange Android. Shadow dodged around as the Android fired away, but it was no use. Finally getting to the Robot, Shadow grabbed it's weaponized arm and broke it, tearing the genade launcher away and fired the weapon.

"Secondary Mission...Completed." It stated before powering down. Shadow powered himself down, heading off to find everyone else when he felt an explosion rock the ship.

.

As Shadow left to fight his Robotic duplicates, Amy went after Robotnik himself to Find Lily. While chasing the mad doctor down, Robotnik held up her flickey friend and pressed on the Tablet, the Cobalt Blue Chaos Emerald emerging from the tablet around Lily's neck. Finding no use left for the bird, Robotnik dropped Lily and Amy came over.

"lily, are you ok?" Amy asked as Lily chirped weakly. That's when Tails found her, stating they needed to get off of the ship. Now. That's when an explosion was felt.

.

Maria and Big separated, each determined to find Froggy. Maria left for the inside of the ship, searching frantically in every door she could, but found no trace of the frog.

As she searched, an explosion hit the ship as one of the engines blew. Maria ran to get to get back outside of the ship, but ended trapped behind a wall of debris, unable to escape anywhere as more debris fell. If nobody found her, she'd be done for.

.

Shadow ran up as the ship started to blow apart when he saw Big the Cat, holding his frog. Then Shadow saw Chaos in a new form, with two other Emeralds inside of his body. This new form had four legs from a blob of a body, razor sharp teeth coming from the mouth under a small mass of green eyes, followed by a tail from the rear. And that's also when he felt it.

Shadow took a step back, feeling like something just shot him in the chest as an emerald green flame enveloped his body, and he felt the rage.

Robotnik also saw Shadow had survived his little fight, ordering Chaos to attack Shadow as he checked a monitor on the screen. He smirked evilly at the results as he flew off, unsure of how everything would fall.

Chaos shot several tendril after Shadow as he was starting to get up, but was slammed back down. Chaos continued slamming Shadow when the tendrils being used started to evaporate, and Shadow turned as his eyes glowed white. Shadow screamed as he let out a mass of Chaos Energy, shooting himself towards Chaos. But Chaos bounced him right back as it opened its maw, and Shadow's energy was being sucked through. Shadow fell to his knees as he felt his life slipping away.

Knuckles showed just in the nick of time, slamming Chaos's mouth shut. "Get back Shadow, you're in no condition for this!" Knuckles warned, running at Chaos.

Chaos shot out more tendril's as Knuckles dodged to the left and right, keeping his arms close. He jumped in, Slamming down on the brain of Chaos and backed off when Chaos brought a tendril out, smacking Knuckles away. Knuckles got up, when suddenly his Master Emerald shards started to glow. Chaos backed up, forming into a puddle and dropped into the ocean. Looking at the shards, Knuckles understood they needed to give him one last piece of information. But now was not the time. He turned back to see Shadow had calmed down a bit, being able to stand up now.

Tails had arrived as the Carrier started to blow apart thanks to a little re-wiring he did on a few missiles.

"We need to get out of here!" Tails yelled as the group made their way to the X Tornado.

"WAIT!" Shadow yelled, grabbing hold of Mr. Big. "Where's Maria!?" He demanded as Big told him she went back inside. "And you let her go...ALONE!?" Shadow demanded the answer but an explosion caught his attention. "Miles, you get everyone out of here! I'm going after Maria!" Shadow ordered, taking off before anybody could object.

.

Maria coughed, waving away the smoke that neared her. She kept banging on the wall as sweat poured down her face when she fell over. _"This is it."_ She thought, closing her eyes.

But hope was not yet dead as the wall next to her exploded, producing Shadow as he looked around and noticed her body. He ran over, picking Maria up as he ran down a hallway, the ship combusting around the two as Shadow held Maria in his arms. One explosion made Maria flinch and Shadow tightened his grip, when a part of the ship tore off in front of him. He looked out on the ocean below when Maria pointed to a bit of land in front of them. Yet more debris fell.

"Hold on tight." Shadow warned as he backed up a bit before he shot forward and jumped. Falling through the air, he landed on a piece of metal before jumping off of it. He went through another hollow piece, bouncing off the top and bottom before launching onto what might've been a piece of the wing. Gaining his footing quickly, Shadow bolted up the wing and jumped for all it was worth using pieces of land that jutted out to help. But he didn't make it. He grabbed hold of Maria, keeping her body close when he felt an explosion behind him as it made him fly back up. Seeing land below, Shadow turned his body while keeping Maria's close. He landed, taking the impact as he bounced up and activated his shoes trying to keep upright and stop his momentum. But its was no use as he fell back again, sliding on the grassy until they stopped.

He looked at Maria in his arms as she opened her eyes, looking at him and smiled. Shadow nodded back as they both stood up, watching as the remains of the ship hit the ocean. Shadow sat on the edge, watching the scene as the sun was just starting to set on the horizon.

Maria sat next to him, wondering what to say when he beat her to it.

"I know you want answers. The main one being why I left." Shadow stated. "But know it had nothing to do with you. I ha-"

"No." Maria cut him off. "Don't say that. I want an actual answer Shadow. You don't just GET to leave for five months and come back. "I've had enough of that in my life."

Shadow sighed heavily. "Fine. Do you remember the following week after Chaos Control?" He asked.

Maria nodded. "You just fired off a Chaos Needle at random times...But what does that-"

"It got worse." Shadow stated. "When I did purposefully use my abilities... Maria, I was loosing control." Maria raised an eyebrow, asking why he didn't just stay. "Maria, think about it. What if I accidentally used a Chaos Blast, or accidentally leveled the city? I had to leave to make time, and the only way was to leave. I had to be alone." Shadow explained.

Suddenly, it all made sense to Maria. "Is that why whenever you're around Chaos you...you know..."

Shadow shook his head. "Chaos Energy reacts with other Chaos Energy. Ever since I went "super" I've felt much more powerful. When I'm around Chaos, it seems all of that enrgy resurfaces at the same time." Then Shadow looked at Maria, dead serious. "Maria, Chaos is still out there. And I have to beat him, alone where nobody can get hurt."

"Shadow..." Maria responded. "We will always be by your side, no matter what. Tails, Amy, Cream, me, you have people that can help you. You just have to let them..." Maria explained, Shadow scoffing saying she started to sound like Tails. Maria laughed at that, as she looked on into the horizon. Shadow may be wrong on his thought of being alone, but he was right about one thing. Chaos was still out there somewhere. And with only 1 Emerald needing to be found...he could bring an end to everybody.


	25. A Better Tomorrow

Knuckles had made it back to his Angel Island, the final pieces of the Master Emerald in hand. He placed the last shards on the Altar as he was enveloped in a white light.

When his vision returned, Knuckles was back in the past as he saw the Shrine under siege, Tikal being the only defense with her arms stretched outward wanting to protect the Chao behind her.

"We can't do this father, it isn't right!" Tikal begged.

"Tikal, we need those Emeralds. They will bring our clan great peace!" Her father replied.

"But at what cost!?" Tikal responded, her voice trembling. "Father, you want peace but at the cost of ruling over others! It's wrong Father, and you know it! And I won't let you do this. If you want the Emeralds, you'll have to go through me." Tikal challenged.

Her father closed his eyes, a tear forming as he opened them again. "TAKE THE EMERALDS!" He roared as the rest of the warriors charged in, easily shoving Tikal to the side as they trampled through the Chao. Tikal reached up, grabbing her father's arm as she pleaded him to stop this before it's to late. But his mind was made, his heart was hardened. He ripped his arm away as he to charged to the top of the Altar and Chaos formed.

What Tikal heard next were screams of agony. A mighty storm started to brew as Tikal ran up the stairs where she saw Chaos facing the sea. The ground around her started to split apart, water spouts forming up. If this kept going, Chaos's rage would destroy the planet. So Tikal did the only thing she could think of.

"The Seven Servers...are the Seven Chaos." Tikal started to pray, reciting the chant Chaos had told her. "Chaos is Power...Power is enriched by the heart..." She stated as she glowed an emerald green when she started to float. Chaos had turned around, his eyes filled with rage as Tikal looked at him in pain. "I'm sorry my friend...But I HAVE to stop you. Forgive me..." She said as Chaos was filled with a white light, and was dragged into the Master Emerald.

.

Shadow and Maria sat on the island where they had landed. Shadow contacted Tails, stating they were alright and to meet them at Angel Island. Maria had left to wander a bit and she was glad she did. She saw an odd structure of trees, weirdly twisted together. Taking a look inside, she saw the White Chaos Emerald. She grabbed it quickly, turning to get out of the forest as she found Shadow again.

"Shadow..." She stated as she showed him the Chaos Emerald. Shadow nodded with a small smirk and nod, picking her up.

"Maria...Keep yourself close." Shadow warned as Maria got a good hold before rocketing off. She closed her eyes as they neared the water, then felt the spray of it on her face. "Maria, cover your ears!" Shadow warned as Maria kept her face close to Shadow's chest and covered her ears before feeling the Sonic Boom they just went through. And not just one, but two Sonic Booms occurred. But if she was traveling at Mach 2, then why was her skin not being peeled off right now? Maria cracked her eyes open, looking ahead when her eyes widened. Just in front of them was a yellowish dome, protecting them. But then she looked around her as the water and the world around her sped by. She couldn't help but laugh as she felt alive for the first time in...awhile. She looked down as she saw Shadow's legs moving so fast they looked more on the lines of a blur. She looked at Shadow, who wore a small smile. But the trip ended to soon as Angel Island came into view.

.

Knuckles came back to the present as he shook his head. It all made sense now. And now he had a way to stop Chaos once again. The only problem is the ancient scripts say that when he has all seven of the Chaos Emeralds, nothing could stop him. He looked back as he saw Shadow and Maria coming up and he was glad they made it. Shadow needed to know this...

As the group neared, Tails landed the X Tornado with Amy and Big hopping out. Shadow and Maria walked up, with the Chaos Emerald in Maria's hands. However, Shadow stopped in his tracks as his hands lit up in a green flame. He fell over as a giant water spout engulfed Maria, swiping the Emerald away from her. Knuckles ran up, kicking through the water as Tails rushed in, taking Maria out of the spout as it left into the ocean below. Shadow finally started to stand, his Chaos energy now under control once more.

"No..." Shadow stated as he stood. The last Chaos Emerald...was gone.

"Shadow, I'm so sorry." Maria apologized when Knuckles put a hand on her shoulder.

"It wasn't your fault." Shadow stated as a storm started brewing.

"Chaos's rage will begin soon, but I have a plan." Knuckles stated, explaining the visions he'd get from the past and how to stop Chaos. "But where to find him is unknown..." Knuckles stated.

Tails's communicator beeped. He answered it hearing Chucks voice stating a MASSIVE water line just broke in Station Square, flooding the entire city. Chuck also explained they'd be heading to higher ground. Before anybody could say anything, Shadow had bolted, heading on to face Chaos.

.

As Shadow neared Station Square, he knew this would be bad. The city was in ruins, water was EVERYWHERE, flooding the building and at the center of it all was Chaos in the form of a MASSIVE dragon like head with tendrils rising from the surface of the water. This was it, he couldn't afford to hold back. Shadow's hands caught fire in an emerald green light, but he soon turned into a blazing red inferno as Chaos Energy flowed from him. He ran across the water, making sure he didn't stop for fear of drowning. Chaos however sensed him, turning as he saw the hedgehog.

The monster roared as he formed up water spouts, sending them Shadows way. But Shadow wasn't giving in. He saw the brain on top of Chaos's head. That's where he was headed. He moved out of the way from the water spouts, as he ran along what was left of a road. However, Chaos formed a massive beam of energy and shot at Shadow. Ducking beside a building, Shadow ran along the side before skidding back into the water as he now had a clear path. Chaos brought up more spouts just under Shadow, slowing him down slightly but not stopping the hero. Shadow burst into the base of Chaos, using his momentum to fly up it's body. However, Chaos shifted into nothing but water and moved away, letting Shadow fall.

As Shadow landed, he looked up to see Chaos's eyes as they widened and Shadow fell to his knees in pain as the red flame surrounding him is sucked into Chaos.

"HOLD ON, SHADOW!" Tails yelled from the X Tornado, firing missiles at Chaos as Knuckles jumped with The Master Emerald in hand. As Knuckles landed, the Master Emerald glowed and Shadow was returned to his usual state. Though Chaos wasn't going to have it. He smacked the X Tornado out of the air and went after Knuckles and the Master Emerald. Shadow and Knuckles retreated, hiding away as Chaos could no longer sense the two. But that didn't stop him from destroying the city even more.

Shadow and Knuckles found the X Tornado, helping Tails, Amy, Big and Ma-MARIA!?

"What are you doing here? It isn't safe!" Shadow scolded Maria when she stood up.

"I'm not running away from this Shadow. You need all the help you can get!" Maria fired back, refusing to leave. Shadow rubbed his temples, sighing.

"Fine." He simply stated, muttering a few...choice words to describe the situation. "Knuckles, Why aren't I glowing right now?"

"That's because I'm not letting you." Knuckles stated. "The Master Emerald nullifies Chaos Energy. And take a guess what that monster is made of?" Knuckles stated with a smirk. They got within view of Chaos, seeing the Emeralds inside of the creature as Knuckles began a chant.  
"The Seven Servers...Are the Seven Chaos...Chaos is Power, Power is enriched by the heart..." Knuckles chanted as a green aura surrounded him. "I'm sealing you back into the Master Emerald Chaos. Farewell!" Knuckles stated, but with a sad tone in his voice. However, as Chaos started to glow white, it turned to see Knuckles and the Master Emerald and fired a beam of concentrated energy. Everyone braced themselves as they were engulfed in a white light.

As Everyone opened their eyes, they were in a different part of the city. And before them stood Tikal with tears in her eyes as she fell forward, Knuckles catching her.

"I'm so sorry..." Tikal stated. "But that won't work anymore... Chaos is to powerful."

"Then how do we stop Chaos now?" Knuckles asked.

Tikal shook her head as she watched the destruction. "You won't. The Seven Chaos...along with his wrath...It's to late to stop him..."

Chaos roared as he spit out the Chaos Emeralds, the seven gems landing near the Master Emerald now dull and lifeless. Tikal picked up one of the gems. "Now he's drained the Emeralds of their power...there's no stopping him. Chaos's wrath will destroy the world."

"No...I won't let it end like this!" Shadow stated defiantly. "I won't let it end, NOT LIKE THIS!" Shadow yelled as he walked for the Master Emerald, touching it with his hands as an odd energy spike surrounded him, and the Chaos Emeralds raised up as they started to glow. Shadow hovered in the air for a short time, the Emeralds spinning around him as he flashed in a bright golden color.

"B-but I thought The Chaos Emeralds could only react to hate and rage!" Tikal stated surprised.

"There are other things stronger than anger." Knuckles stated.

Tails nodded. "Shadow will always fights to the bitter end, no matter what. And he does it for no other reason than it's what he does. That's how he's always been, and that's how he's going to beat Chaos!"

Shadow blasted into the sky, getting Chaos's attention as he rocketed towards the beast. Chaos roared as he raised a shield, but Shadow broke through it in a snap. Not willing to go down like this, Chaos brought out several tendril as they batted away, flinging Shadow back into a building where several people watched him. Shadow shot back out, firing a barrage of Chaos Flares hitting Chaos's brain.

Chaos roared in pain as it fired another beam at the Golden Hedgehog. Shadow dodged out of the way and moved in closer. But Chaos saw it coming and hit Shadow with a second full power and dead on at point blank. Shadow went flying back, going under water and through several buildings.

 _"Don't give up Shadow!" He heard Knuckles in his mind.  
"Please, you're the only one that can save us!" Amy voiced.  
"I know you can do it Shadow, I believe in you!" Tails stated.  
"Shadow..." He heard Maria's voice. "We need you Shadow..."_

Shadow burst out of the water, Chaos Energy exploding around him. "I AM SHADOW!" He yelled in defiance as his rings popped off. "SHADOW, THE HEDGEHOG!" At that statement, the energy around him burst into a glowing white, along with the gold on him.

Chaos roared his challenge as it sent a large tendril at Shadow, who promptly caught the tendril between his two hands, dissolving it. "Let's end this NOW!" He yelled as he flew up into the sky, before he burst straight for Chaos as a sonic boom could be seen. Chaos fired at Shadow again but Shadow didn't stop. He stayed the course, hitting the beam with everything he had as he went through it and into Chaos's mouth. Chaos Started to glow a white color and disappeared into shards of energy. Shadow landed in front of his allies, the cheers being heard as he returned to his normal color of black and red. He stumbled a bit as Knuckles came up, helping him stand when Chaos appeared in his original form.

Shadow and Knuckled groaned, ready for a fight when Chaos wasn't moving. Suddenly, several Chao surrounded him, all doing a little tune they did when they were happy.

"You neutralized the anger he felt..." Takal came up from behind them, a happy sound in her voice. "The violent and negative energy in him is gone...he's healed." She stated as she walked past, going towards Chaos as she turned, giving Shadow a once over. "And perhaps...he's not the only one that's being healed." She said, giving Shadow his inhibitor rings. Shadow stood in shock at first, then nodded as he placed the rings back on his hands. Tikal stood in front of Chaos. "Time to go home...Chaos..." She stated as the two started to float into the air, along with the Chao and they disappeared in a flash of white.

Shadow went over to the edge of a destroyed bridge. The water was gone, but the damage was done. This place would need rebuilding, but it would heal in time. Funny how time has an effect on old wounds. He sat there, watching as the sun started to set.

Maria walked up to Tails. "Tails...what do you mean? What has Shadow been fighting for?"

Tails looked at her and smiled. "Haven't you figured it out by now?" He asked. Maria thought for a moment, then smiled and nodded. She may not know Shadow as well as everyone else. But he'd always fight to see everyone through to the end. To make sure everyone gets to see tomorrow in a better condition.

Shadow turned as he faced Maria, wearing a small smirk on his face as the two nodded.

.

Elsewhere, Robotnik sat in an old lab as an odd voice echoed.

"And you're sure this will work?" The voice's robotic sound echoing.

"Yes...I'm sure." Robotnik stated, looking at another screen as it held the information he was looking for.  
"Data Transfer: Complete" The screen read.  
"Hehe...hehehaHAHAHAHA!" Robotnik laughed in mad delight. "Time to initiate project...SHADOW X!" Robotnik roared as a set of glowing red eyes flickered behind him, then stayed powered on.


	26. Metal Mirror

Maria was running home, flyer in hand with an excited grin on her face. It had been just over two weeks since Shadow had taken down Chaos. Reconstruction was going great thanks to Shadow, who helped with delivering supplies when he could. He still kept his distance, unsure of how unstable his powers were but he stayed close enough.

As Maria walked into her mansion, she saw...Her mother and Father? What the heck were they doing here? And sitting across from each other no less?

Nelson turned around. "Oh, hi honey! How was school?" He asked and Maria stammered out her answer, saying it was fine.

"Oh, that's just marvelous dear. Please come sit." Lindsey offered as Maria sat in the chair between them.

"Now...I know what you're thinking..." Nelson stated nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "Your mother and I...Well, we've thought about it and..."

 _"Here it comes..."_ Maria thought sadly.

"We've decided to stay together." Lindsey finished.

"I unders- huh?" Maria stated, very confused. Did she hear them right? Her parents...were staying together?

"We're a family...And we have to make it work." Her father replied proudly. "So, we'll get into counseling and act like a family again." Maria had a huge smile on her face as her father looked in her hands, asking what the flyer was.

Maria was so happy she actually forgot she still had the flyer in her hands. "Hm? oh. It was just a uh..."

Lindsey reached out as she took the flyer, reading it out loud. "The annual Starlight Carnival is coming here!?"

"It's to help raise money for the city." Maria explained.

"Well, when is it? Let's all go!" Nelson stated, clearing his schedule for the day.

At that point, Shadow came inside, slowing down to a mere walk. As he walked into the house, he stopped and noticed Maria's parents, together. He mentally nodded as he went upstairs, ready for sleep.

Maria gathered everyone else, telling them about the carnival and that they should go.

"Wow! A carnival!" Cream exclaimed excited. "Maybe we could convince Shadow to come to. What do you think Cheese?" She asked her chao, which from what everyone else could tell had agreed.

Amy huffed. "I bet he doesn't even want to go. He'll probably be to busy brooding." She stated jokingly as tails spoke up.

"The last carnival he went to...wasn't meant for fun." Tails stated, remembering that theme park Robotnik built back on Mobius as he shivered. That place was a nightmare to get through, even for Shadow.

"How...old is Shadow anyways?" Maria asked. Tails and Amy looked at each other, shrugging as they stated he'd be 18 in a few months. "Wait, he's 17 and has only ever been to...THAT Amusement Park?" Maria asked. If the place was enough to make Tails shiver, it must be bad. "No way. It's time he was able to try and be a teenager again. Come on Cream!"

Maria and Cream marched up the stairs, determined to make Shadow go to this event.

.

Elsewhere, Robotnik was tinkering with the invention of his. He wanted to make sure that Shadow would be done here. He stepped back, marveling at his invention as it walked forward. Red "shoes" as feet with black shins sporting glowing red highlights, and silvery claws.

"You're ready." Robotnik stated. "Find Shadow, and kill him." He ordered as the robot nodded, it's chest glowing a red color along with the red appearing from it's head piece before it burst off into the sky, looking for Shadow.

.

Shadow kept his head low, walking along with everybody else at this carnival. How Maria and Cream managed to convince him of this he'll never know. He shouldn't be here, he should be out looking for Robotnik, or testing out his new ability. But no, he was at a carnival. At least everyone was safe. He looked behind him, seeing Cream chatting with Tails, Maria having a talk with her parents, and Amy was...heading for a hammer game.

 _"Oh no..."_ Shadow thought as he caught up to her, but it was to late. Amy hefted the hammer she was given and slammed it down. The bell rang as it popped off from the force of the blow, Shadow catching it. Everyone stood in awe of what Amy just did as she gave a nervous chuckle. "Maybe, hold back just a bit." Shadow advised as Amy nodded, setting the hammer down. The two walked off, separating as Shadow entered a hall of mirrors.

He walked through, taking it slow when he walked past a reflection that wasn't his, but shiny and metallic. He took a step back, looking into the mirror that just showed himself. He shook his head, continuing on his way thinking he was just getting paranoid.

He made it out as Maria found him near the entrance. She went over, grabbing his arm as she pointed to the giant Ferris Wheel. Shadow shrugged, not knowing what lurked on the roof of the building behind him.

As the two were going up, Shadow kept a watchful eye outside as Maria kept a hopeful one out.

"Hey Shadow?" Maria asked, getting Shadow's attention. "I don't mean to pry..."

"I don't want to talk about it." Shadow answered, knowing it was a question of his past. "It was a long time ago." He explained. Maria nodded as she saw a tear form in his eye. Whatever happened, it hurt to remember.

"So...what does it feel like?" She asked, Shadow raising an eyebrow. "Going Super like that."

"I feel...I don't know." Shadow answered, thinking on it. "Good, I guess. Invincible even."

Maria nodded. To feel invincible...what would that be like? "How are you handling your Chaos Powers?"

"They're fine. I have them under control." Shadow answered. Maria nodded. Guess he still isn't one for short talk. She enjoyed the view as Shadow looked on, seeing a slight shimmer. And it wasn't a star.

Shadow saw the shimmer arc a bit, smoke coming out the back as it came towards them. "GET DO-"

SMASH!

Whatever had been stalking Shadow grabbed him, taking him into the sky above the clouds. Shadow struggled, kicking himself away as he fell from the robot. He looked down, seeing the water below him. Figuring only one way out of this, Shadow spin dashed straight down as he slammed into the water in a massive splash before flashing blue, appearing on the shore of a power plant not far from the carnival. The plant had been fenced off, the opening having something of a road along it as it snaked around showing small building and massive pillars, along with what appeared to be metal cylinder silos, and a giant building in the center of it all. He saw the Shimmer land in the area as he jumped over the fence, waiting to see what was in store.

As he searched around, he did find what he was looking for. A robot on two legs, the thighs silver with the shins black with glowing red highlights on the side, silver claws coming out of its hands with the arms being just like the legs. The robot turned, facing Shadow, as he visible faltered a bit. It was a robot that looked very similar to him, though it appeared to only have three "quills", one on the top and on each side of its head, each having the same glowing red highlights. It even included two black ears coming from the top.

 **"Hello, rodent."** The robot stated in a familiar voice.

"You...I should've known you'd come back!" Shadow stated.

 **"Did you really think I'd let you have a vacation? HA! You're dumber than I thought."** The metalic duplicate voiced. **"Now...meet your doom, METAL SHADOW!"** Robotnik yelled as the two charged after one another.


	27. Metal Vs Mettle

"GET DO-" Shadow yelled but was cut off, Maria getting down just in time before something tore through their cart and ripped Shadow away. She stared off into the distance, looking for where they'd end up as she saw Shadow dragged into the clouds before he fell, hitting the water. She started to panic before she saw a flash of blue, seeing him enter the power plant nearby. She left as the ride ended, determined to try and help Shadow.

.

Shadow ran after his metal duplicate, the two slamming into each other. Try as he might, Shadow simply couldn't out muscle his opponent when suddenly Metals Shadow's eyes started to glow, forming an odd red aura in the chest. Shadow realized to late as an odd beam shot out and hit his point blank, slamming Shadow into one of the metal silos. As Shadow as getting up, Metal flew at him and smashed him through the silo and and up through the roof, carrying Shadow by the leg as Metal turned and threw Shadow down.

But Shadow was getting irritated. Using Chaos Snap, he teleported in a blue flash, landing safely on the ground as he summoned several Chaos Needles, firing them away. Metal flew straight into them, dodging most but a few did hit. But they weren't enough, just as Shadow planned. Shadow jumped at the last second as Metal shot its hand out, the sharp fingers getting caught in the concrete. Moving around behind, Shadow jumped and kicked Metal in the back of the head sending his robotic double forward. Moving forward, Shadow was about to collide in a spin dash when Metal brought out an odd black energy field surrounded the bot, sending Shadow back.

 **"Not bad Shadow, but not good enough."** Robotnik stated through Metal Shadow. The two ran for each other again, locking up when Shadow started to glow red. **"Not so fast!"** Metal shot up with an odd yellow electricity that flung Shadow back.

"What the...?" Shadow asked, shaking his head as Metal shot forward. Reacting fast, Shadow rolled back a little, bringing his leg up kicking Metal in the chin and forcing it up. Metal kept going, it's momentum impossible to stop so suddenly as it smashed through the pillars, causing them to collapse on top of it. Shadow nodded a bit, but the rubble moved and Metal came out with barely a scratch.

 **"GAHAHAHAHA! Did you honestly think that would work?"** Metal asked.

Shadow grunted, the two going at each other. Shadow fired a Chaos Spear on his way as MEtal avoided it but Shadow saw the dodge coming, activating his shoes as he jumped and slamed Metal down an axe kick. Shadow landed, his hands reaching for his Inhibitor rings.

"I'll end this no-AAAARRRRHHHG!" Shadow screamed in pain as Metal stood before him, its claws buried into shadow side as blood leaked out. Shadow looked down in shock, feeling himself fading. Metal brought it's leg up, kicking shadow away hard. Shadow went back, bouncing off the ground as he stopped on his back. He held his open wound, knowing he needed time to heal that one. Time he didn't have. Metal was already with him, picking him up by the throat with claws poised to strike again.

 **"Any last words, rodent?"** Metal asked. Shadow struggled with the hand around his neck before his blood loss caused him to faint. **"I didn't think so."**

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

*SMACK*

A steel pole with a bit of concrete cracked Metal on the side of the head, causing the robot to drop Shadow. Turning to see Maria holding the weapon, Robotnik growled. "You again? I guess this saves me the trouble." Metal stated as Maria took another swig, but Metal caught it in hand, crushing the metal in its hand effortlessly.

Maria looked at her now broken weapon, then threw it at Metal and ran. However, Metal was going to have fun with this one. Metal shot forward, cutting Maria off and shoulder ramming her side. Maria fell but got back up breathing heavy and wincing. She put her hands up, not willing to go down without a fight. Metal laughed at her, getting into an stance of its own. Metal shot a claw out as Maria dodged, the claws ripping through her clothes and cutting a bit of skin open. She winced but stayed up, her side aching. She threw a punch with her right hand, hitting Metal on the head as she reeled back from the pain, her hand disjointed in several places. Metal laughed as it slammed a palm into her sternum causing her to go back a bit as she landed. She gasped for air, barely getting up as her hand felt a cold metal box. Though she was barely standing and breathing heavy, a risky idea formed in her head as she covered the box behind her back.

 **"Did you really just punch solid metal plating with your bare hands?"** Robotnik asked, stalking up to her mockingly. **"You really are dumber than you look."** Robotnik insulted, then gave her once over. **"I'll give you this, I thought that last hit would have put you down. Guess only using 10% striking force was to easy. I promise, you won't stay standing this next one."** Metal got the claws ready. **"Any last words?"**

Maria spit out blood, then gave a weak and tired smile. "How's that arm feel?" She asked. Robotnik roared as Metal went forward, its claws ready to kill. But Maria timed it just right, moving out of the way as the claws nicked her, but slammed into the power box she was hiding. Metal started to spark up as electricity ran through the body, sparks leaping out of the joints and chest piece when a pop was heard, sending Metal Shadow back as it's eyes shut off. Maria sighed a relief, collapsing on her back as she kept her right hand close as she felt it throbbing. She lifted her shirt up a bit to see her side swollen where it was in pain, figuring her hand wasn't the only thing that was broken. As she was concentrating on that, she didn't notice the nearing danger.

Metal got up, sparks occasionally popping out as it took steps towards Maria. Maria looked up and saw Metal Shadow nearing her, and felt herself shatter. This was it, she did everything she could. But it wasn't enough. She was going to die. Metal raised its claw for the killing blow as Maria waited for the end.

"BACK OFF!" Shadow roared as a red Chaotic Spear sliced through Metal's chest when Shadow appeared just behind in a flash, grabbing the robot and flipping it over tearing off the head as the robot disintegrated from the raw energy coming from Shadow. Shadow powered down, putting his rings back on and heading to Maria as she fell back.

"Maria...sta _y with me..."_ Maria heard Shadow say as everything started to fade away. Her last moments felt Shadow picking her up and the wind on her face.


	28. Curtain Call

Maria lay in a hospital bead, her unconscious body using a mask to breath. The doctors did everything they could, but they weren't sure if Maria would wake up for...awhile, if at all. Her right hand and wrist were broken, a left rib broken as well as another cracked, and she had a concussion that kept her unconscious. Shadow sat there, berating himself for the past 4 hours when his wrist beeped. He took a step outside.

"Miles...have you found anything?" He asked, a dangerous edge in his voice.

"I have Shadow..." Tails responded, wires hooked up to the head of Metal Shadow. "And you won't believe where this came from..."

Shadow listened intently, then his eyes widened in anger as he rushed off in a blur, making 5 consecutive Sonic Booms when he was clear of people and slowed down when he got to his destination: The Whit House.

.

The President had filed papers when an alarm went off, detecting movement outside. He left for the main room when the doors splintered away, showing Shadow the Hedgehog.

"What is the meaning of-" The president was cut off a a Chaos Spear whizzed by his head. He turned his head to see Shadow was NOT in a good mood. He moved forward, his hands lit up in a green flame when a voice cut him off.

"WAIT!" Rouge yelled, getting between Shadow and the President. "Shadow, what's gotten into you?"

"Out of the way Rouge. This is personal." Shadow said darkly, but Rouge stayed put.

"Shadow, what happened? Talk to me." Rouge offered.

"What happened? WHAT HAPPENED?" Shadow asked as his flames grew. "Your BOSS sent a metal duplicate that almost KILLED me, then put Maria BACK in a hospital. SHE CAN'T BREATH ON HER OWN RIGHT NOW!" Shadow roared and Rouge backed up a bit, intimidated.

 _"He must really care to go this far..."_ Rouge thought, then something popped up in her head. She looked over and saw the Presidents Aid from around the corner, a nervous look on his face as he cowered. _"How could you..."_ she mentally asked, remembering that odd conversation she heard from an underground room. She stuck around, hearing if "This would work." or some such, then saw the Presidents Aid walk out.

"Shadow, listen. I think I know who tried to kill you..." Rouge said as she nodded over. Shadow looked and the Aid made a run for it, but Shadow was faster. He dashed up, appearing in front of the Aid as he brought his heel up and smashed it into the Aids face.

The Aid fell back, holding his nose as blood poured out. "What the hell is wron-" But Shadow slammed a fist down next to him.

"Where. Is. He?" Shadow asked darkly.

The Aid had a nervous look, then turned away. "I won't talk to a terrorist!" He spat out, but Shadow grabbed him by the collar bone and dragged him to the roof of the White House. "I don't know!Idon'tknowwhereheis!" The Aid sputtered out quickly. "A few hours ago I lost contact! Please don't kill me!"

Shadow loosened his grip a bit. "Why? Why me?"

"You're too powerful. Somebody had to put you down!" The Aid screamed.

Rouge appeared behind them, saying a base was under attack from Robotnik with a new set of mechs.

Shadow's scowl deepened, then brought his hand closer. "If Maria dies because of this, it's your head I'm coming for." He threatened, then crushed the collar bone as he threw the Aid behind him. "Lead me there Rouge." Shadow ordered, telling Miles he'd be out for awhile and not to follow. This time, he was out for blood. Robotnik was going down. One way or another, it ended tonight.

The two boarded a ship, taking them to the base as Rouge told Shadow what the mission had to be.

"We need to destroy the three terminals inside. That will take out the defenses protecting Robotnik." Rouge sated.

"Why not just hack the system down?" Shadow asked.

"We could, but it would take a LONG time. Robotnik must've been at this for awhile." Rouge responded. "Shadow, there's something else you need to know. They have a body suit in there along with three Chaos Emeralds. The suit is a dummied down version salvaged from Robotnik's Emperor...be careful." Shadow nodded. He looked on as the base came into view, a massive tower surrounded by what must've been the new mechs Rouge had been told of. The robots design had guns on either arm, a silver body with thin reverse legs. They all turned, ready to fire.

Shadow jumped out of the ship, slamming onto the robots and bouncing off as a yellow blur zooming from mech to mech as they shattered from the force. Shadow made his way to G.U.N fortress, breaking through the concrete floor as he watched a plane load up on soldiers before leaving.

Shadow ran forward, watching more mechs fall from above as he shot down a corridor. Coming to an open room, Shadow kept going forward as he fired off Chaos Spears and Flares, destroying anything in his path, including G.U.N robots that had no pilots. He kept going, coming up to the first terminal, a massive spire with a blue top. He went to destroy it but was surrounded by robots on all sides.

Shots fired everywhere as Shadow ducked an dodged away, smashing a GUN robot as he continued going as he made his way to the terminal releasing a Chaos Blast, causing an EMP wave shutting the immediate threats down. Shadow landed, taking a short breather before he blew open another door and jumped down a small pit, landing on a platform as a blue static flared up. He knew better than to touch it. He looked forward, seeing the blue static in front of him as he shot forward, bouncing off the walls before making it to land as he ran up another ramp.

Several more GUN robots fell as Shadow ran past them, wanting to conserve his energy before fighting yet some things were inevitable. He ran up a metal floor, getting to the second level and blew open another door when he saw the elevator he needed to go down was destroyed. He made another jump, somersaulting as he landed. He popped back up and continued on his way, jumping over a laser gate when gun mounted camera's started to fire at him. Shadow moved quickly, getting out of the hallways as he made it to the second terminal.

He mounted a turret, firing bullets at the GUN defenses that fell along with the terminal, destroying it as a second EMP came about. Shadow breathed as he looked at himself, watching as scrapes where he was shot healed themselves. But he was slowing down, getting tired. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up. Getting up, Shadow moved forward through another set of doors as he saw a series of them close. He turned and saw a thick vehicle and got an idea. Getting inside, Shadow stepped on the pedals as the vehicle surged forward and broke through every door it hit. The only problem was it wouldn't stop as Shadow jumped out when the vehicle slammed into a big GUN bot, a mini gun on the underside. Shadow ran forward, shooting up the side of the wall as he was shot at and a bullet skimmed his arm. Making it inside a door, Shadow grabbed his arm as it slowly healed. He moved forward, getting in a cart as t went down to find the final terminator overrun by robots.

Shadow charged in with a battle cry, smashing robots left and right but he was being over whelmed. A missile hit nearby as he was flung back, almost falling into the blue field below. Shadow dragged himself back up, looking ahead as more robots came to finish him off.

Shadow scowled when a rocket was fired, aimed at the terminal and blowing it up. He looked around and saw Rouge had just entered, a launcher in hand as she flew to him and helped him up.

"Did you have to trash the base?" Rouge asked as Shadow simply shrugged, walking forward with a limp. "Are you going to be ok?"

"Wheres the suit you told me about?" Shadow asked, Rouge telling him it was just ahead. "Don't get involved." Shadow warned, walking into a big room.

"So...you lived." Robotnik stated from above, descending in a massive red suit resembling an upper torso, a head with one "eye" up top. Robotnik sat in the center of it, the chest open and exposing himself. "This suit was salvaged from my Emperor suit, can you believe that? They were making weapons to destroy you, even keeping three Chaos Emeralds from you. So why bother?" Robotnik asked, seeing Shadow hunched a bit and tired. "You won't last long in the sorry state you're in. Give up."

Shadow stood upright, putting his hands up. "You should know me well enough Robotnik, I never quit. Not then, not now, and not ever."

Robotnik smiled cruelly. "I was hoping you'd say that." He said as the chest closed. "Shadow, meet DIABLON!" Robotnik roared as missiles fired from the back. Shadow darted to his left, out running the missiles as he made a jump for it. But Shadow slammed into some sort of shield, bouncing back. "Come now Shadow. I know you hit harder than that!" Robotnik mocked as he backhanded Shadow away. The head started to glow an odd blue color and fired a laser. Shadow jumped back, barely dodging the beam as he fired a Chaos Spear and it connected to the suit, but didn't do much. Shadow circled around, noticing a blue light in one arm, a yellow light in the other elbow, and a purple light in the back. This thing was being powered by 3 Chaos Emeralds...great.

Diablon fired more missiles as Shadow dodged, but the laser caught him dead center. Shadow flew back, rolling off the edge and grabbed on again, pulling himself up. "The only reason your still alive right now is because of all that Chaos Energy you have inside of you. Normally it's a pain to deal with, but now I get to toy with you longer than should be necessary." Robotnik commented, picking Shadow up and throwing him across the room as he slammed into a metal crate and dented it. "And who can help you? You came here alone." Suddenly, the suit started to malfunction, the force field fazing out as Diablon fell to ground level. "What the-?"

"He's not alone." Rouge started. Suddenly, Knuckles, Tails, and Amy burst from the ceiling.

"He never was!" Tails yelled as he threw a hammer wielding Amy. Amy flew forward, slamming her hammer into the the body of Diablon and made it back up.

"Sorry we're late to the party. Traffic was a mess." Knuckles stated, helping Shadow up. Shadow looked at him and the two nodded. "Amy! TENNIS!" Knuckles yelled as Amy nodded, backing up. Shadow formed a spin dash as Knuckles threw a punch as hard as he could, shooting Shadow forward. Shadow slammed into Diablon, shattering the metal plating on an arm as Amy hit him back with her hammer, sending Shadow threw the head of Diablon. Tails came in and caught Shadow mid-air, spinning a few time before throwing Shadow as he slammed into Diablons back, shattering the metal. "Those suits are meant to combat just Shadow. But they've got nothing on us." Knuckles stated.

Diablon got back up when Shadow jumped up, releasing a Chaos Blast finishing Diablon. The three Chaos Emeralds fell as Robotnik rolled away. Shadow walked forward, a Chaos Spear in hand as he picked Robotnik up by the collar.

"I gave you all of this...and this is my thanks?" Robotnik spat out.

"You took EVERYTHING from me that day!" Shadow roared with pain in his voice, raising his spear and preparing to kill. "Never again!"

"Shadow, WAIT!" Tails yelled.

Shadow turned, mist on the bottom of his eyes. "You want him dead as much as I do Miles." Shadow responded, rage in his voice.

"Shadow...this won't change you back..." Tails stated. Shadow looked back at Robotnik, dropping him. Then raised his spear once more.

Robotnik closed his eyes and waited for the end, but he heard something else. Metal shattering. He looked and saw his robotic arm was destroyed once more, then Shadow in his face.

"It's not what Maria would want..." Shadow stated as he turned with Rouge coming up, arresting Robotnik. Shadow wobbled a bit and Tails helped him walk. "What about Maria?" Shadow asked.

"She'll be fine Shadow." Tails assured and Shadow nodded, getting into the X Tornado as Tails flew off with Shadow passing out in the back seat.

.

Maria winced as she opened her eyes, looking around. One eye was still pretty swollen and her sides just hurt, along with her hand. She looked around to see herself in a hospital room, with her parents on the couch next to her asleep.

"They haven't left this room since you came in two days ago." She heard, turning to see Shadow. "It's over Maria. Robotnik is under custody." He said, looking a little down.

"Sssshadow?" Maria said weakly, concern in her voice.

"They made machines meant to take me down Maria...The people I help protect are afraid of me." Shadow stated. "And one day...I might be on the run from them."

"Sh-adow..." Maria stated, lifting her hand as Shadow came up, taking hold. "I will always...be your friend...I promise..." She stated with a horse voice. Shadow gave a small huff at that when her parents started to stir. With Maria's head still turned, Nelson gave Shadow a disapproving glare, and Shadow took it as a cue to leave. Shadow nodded over to Maria's parents, as she turned and saw them, with Shadow walking away and seeing Rouge in the hallway.

"Why didn't you kill him?" She asked, walking alongside Shadow.

"Would it have changed anything?" Shadow responded, with Rouge saying it probably wouldn't. "Where are you keeping him?" Shadow asked, with Rouge revealing it to be a secure section of Area 99. "Keep an eye on him Rouge. I don't want to see him get loose." Shadow stated as Rouge nodded. Things would be a bit more peaceful for now, but trouble would always find a way to surface.


	29. Aftermath

Chuck, Shadow, and Maria sat in the presidents office. Over the course of two weeks, more creatures had started to show up from Mobius. Flickeys being the main example.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I asked you here..." The President stated.

Chuck gave a sympathetic chuckle. "You're worried about the arrival of all these creatures. And you think we need to separate them from humans. Trouble usually does arrive when two such different species cross paths." He explained as Maria frowned, looking at her hand in it's cast. She tried flexing her fingers, but they refused to budge an inch.

The President nodded. "I wish it weren't the case...but-"

"I understand." Shadow cut him off. "We'll make sure to keep them away from humans as much as possible. Wouldn't want people thinking we need to be locked up...or worse." Shadow stated bitterly as he walked away.

The President looked like he wanted to say something, but the words didn't leave his mouth. Shadow was right, and it wasn't fair.

Maria watched on a bit hesitant when Shadow disappeared in a flash of blue. Chuck put a hand on her shoulder, saying it would probably be best if they left now.

.

Elsewhere, Shadow stood on top of a roof talking with Rouge, both of them looking to the sky.

"Tell me something Rouge." Shadow said, breaking the silence. "Do they have a plan to take us all down?" Shadow asked a bit coldly.

The question didn't surprise Rouge. It was the way he asked it that made her think cautiously. "Shadow...I couldn't tell you that."

Shadow grunted. "Guess that's a yes." He said bitterly before taking a sigh. "Guess humans don't change from one planet to the other. One day we're celebrated for being heroes. Now they're afraid because we're different."

Rouge thought for a moment, thinking cautiously. "Shadow, not all humans are like that."

"Maybe the ones I know, but the ones you work with?" Shadow spat out. "Tell me something Rouge, when that line is drawn and we're hunted down, who's side will you be on?" He asked, walking away.

Rouge sighed. "They're putting it to a vote." She said, getting Shadow's attention. "The government officials are having a vote to make plans should something happen. It doesn't mean that anything will change..."

"Hmph...That's how it starts." Shadow stated flatly. "Tell them this. I they got after Cream, or Miles, or any one of us, I'm going to do whatever it takes." He finished as he bolted away to find a quiet place to think.

"I know you will." Rouge said to herself, flying away.

.

At the Docks, Chuck and Maria sat at the pier looking at the sunset. Maria walked up, putting her hands on the rail as she reeled her right hand back. She tried flexing her fingers again, but to no avail. That wasn't the only thing on her mind though. She may have been on pain killers during the President's meeting, but she understood everything.

"Grandpa?" Maria asked, getting Chucks attention. "I've been thinking...about today." She said as Chuck came up beside her. "They won't actually...take Shadow away, will they?" She asked concerned. Chuck looked on to the sea, wondering the same thing. "I know he's different, but why does that matter? He's like us inside."

"Maria...Shadow is a complicated person...or Hedgehog." Chuck stated with a sigh. "He's a soldier, and something happened to him that changed him in a drastic way. I don't know if he'll ever have a safe life."

"But that's not his fault!" Maria gave an outburst. "He saved us all time and again. It's just not...fair."

"I know Maria...I know." Chuck stated as he hugged Maria close. "We should get you back to the hospital. They want to keep you one more night just to make sure you'll be fine going home."

Maria nodded as the two got in the car.

.

Morning came and the voters were in the White House, making the decision if they needed security from the "Mobian Threat" as some called it, not caring Rouge was right there. It was a few hours long when the decision was made, and Rouge was worried about it. They were making plans to spy on Shadow and his allies. She sighed, passing on Shadow's message.

"For your own sake, don't provoke him." Rouge also warned. "Shadow can be a bit overprotective of those he cares about."

"He's not the only one." Topaz gave her two cents, getting up and leaving with Rouge. Everyone looked at each other, then shrugged. They needed a plan should something happen.

.

At the remains of the warehouse Robotnik was using, Bokune tapped on a yellow-ish orange Robot on the head. "Hey, Emile, WAKE UP!" He yelled as "Emile" came online. "Look here, we need to get Robotnik out of jail and you're the only thing that works in this dump. So how about we get out of here?" Bokune asked. Emile nodded, getting up ready to start trouble once more.

.

.

.

A/N: Short chapter, I know. But I didn't really know how else to put this in a different Chapter. So next, we find out what Emile was meant for. I'm also leaving the Chaotix out of this story entirely as they didn't bring anything to the table. As for Vanilla (Cream's mom) I'm not sure. I'll have to see what comes up.


	30. The Big Brawl

"We got him!"  
"Keep him down!"  
"Don't let it get away!"

was heard all throughout the government base holding Robotnik. Emerl (Not Emile) lay down on the ground, sparking every now and then with dents in its metal plating. Rouge came up, seeing the broken robot in shambles.

"What do we do with it sir?" Rouge asked someone in a government suit, as he walked up and gave a dark smile.

.

It had been a few weeks since Shadow and crew were being spied on. During that time, Shadow had thrown out a few people unlucky enough to get caught. He broke ones nose in the process saying he'd be less lenient next time. He also was summoned to a military base, presumably to go over his actions when he walked in seeing Rouge and Knuckles.

"What's going on?" Shadow asked.

Knuckles shrugged. "You tell me, she certainly won't." he responded, nodding to Rouge who had a smug look on her face. Just then, the President came through.

"Now, I'm sure you have questions-" The President stated but Shadow...

"Get the GUN soldiers off Maria's lawn." Shadow cut him off. "I promise, the next one I find won't be walking away."

The President slightly flinched at that, but took a breath. "About why I called you here, I want you to meet-" He stated, his hand going towards the door to reveal a robot that had a humanoid appearance but a Mobian's height, black armor along it and a yellow head piece. "Gemerl!"

Shadow's eyes widened as he shot forward, attacking Gemerl. However, the Robot reacted and dodged, Shadow turning while forming up a Chaos Spear. Rouge stepped in front of him.

"Hold it Shadow!" Rouge yelled just before Shadow threw his spear.

"Rouge, what are you doing? Get out of the way!" Shadow demanded.

"This is ours now." Rouge stated, pointing to Gemerl. "This thing tried breaking Robotnik out of prison awhile back, but we stopped it and made it our robot. They want to use this offer to test Gemerl out."

"Offer?" Knuckles asked and the President explained they'd hold a tournament.

Shadow scowled. "So you want to test something that came from Robotnik in a tournament?"

The President nodded. "And the Grand Prize is..." He stated, pulling a small black rag from a box to reveal a red jewel. "A Chaos Emerald!"

Shadow's eyes widened. "We need those to get home, and here you are just handing them out as prizes?" He spat out. "You want to expose a Chaos Emerald to one of Robotnik's creations? I can't think of a plan more stupid than this!" Rouge put a hand on his shoulder, but Shadow shrugged it off. "I'll do this tournament, but know this. You are playing a very dangerous game with technology you don't know of. Do try and be smart about it." Shadow said as he walked away.

.

Maria sat at home, trying to flex her hand when her fingers started to move. She smiled a little bit, glad that she was getting movement back in her hand. It wasn't much, but she was healing. Faster than what doctors thought she would, to be exact. It didn't compare to a mobian, but she didn't care. She heard Ella call her for a brunch as she walked in the kitchen when she saw Shadow in the living room, walking alongside Tails.

"Shadow, whats wrong?" Tails asked.

Shadow sighed, motioning Tails to follow up stairs so no one else could hear. "I'm just worried, Tails. The government we fought for is starting to see us as a powerful threat, and they just rebuilt one of Robotniks mechs."

"I'm sure nothing bad will happen. That's probably why they wanted this tournament. If anything goes wrong, we'll be there to stop it." Tails explained.

"I hope you're right, Tails. I hope you're right." Shadow stated.

.

The day of the tournament had arrived, taking place in the "Diamond Stadium". Said tournament was a full roster, each wanting their hand at the Chaos Emerald. Maria wanted to join, but was unable due to her hand.

The first match started as the President himself came out, and his opponent was Sh-SHADOW!?

Shadow gave a small smirk, cracking his knuckles. _"This thing might not have been such a bad idea."_ Shadow thought as he walked forward.

The President faltered, but steeled himself as the bell rang. He charged Shadow, throwing jabs and hook punches as Shadow simply moved out of the way. He then disappeared in a flash of blue. The President looked around then up as Shadow fell at him from the sky. Raising his hands to keep his head protected, he felt a soft object fall on him. Opening hs eyes, he saw a white towel on his head and Shadows arm raised in victory.

"Why'd you do that?" The President asked his new aid.

She simply shrugged, saying he had more power lunches than power punches. The President conceaded to her point, stepping off the ring. As he was leaving, he saw Shadow walking past him.

"Not bad. For an old human." Shadow stated before walking away.

Rouge came up and clapped a little bit. "Take that as a compliment." She suggested.

The next match started with Tails and a man named Hawk, an old friend that helped Knuckles get a Chaos Emerald months ago. Hawk threw a flurry of fists, but Tails kept his cool and defended himself with his...tails. Hawk raised his leg for a devastating axe kick, and Tails dodged it while jumping, slamming his tails into Hawks side and knocking them man over. Tails landed and felt something behind him, turning to see Hawk grabbing his tails. Miles smirked, spinning his tails and putting Hawk down and out in a dizzying defeat.

Several more fights came and went, with some poor soul had the displeasure of ticking off Amy and she won by a knockout...literally. Thus ending the first round.

Fans gathered around their heroes to get autographs and the such. Shadow avoided the crowd, heading to his trailer when Maria followed him in.

The two sat in silence, an uneasy tension forming when Shadow asked what was wrong.

"Hm? Oh, nothing." Maria stated, looking at her hand. "I just wish I could do more."

"You've done plenty. I'm actually glad you're not a part of this tournament." Shadow stated. "I can't seem to keep you from getting in fights that are over your head."

"I handled myself pretty well with Metal Shadow." Maria explained proudly.

"Was it worth it?" Shadow asked. Maria looked at him confused. "You barely came out of that fight alive. And at what cost? Maria, I won't be around forever. I'm asking you to start choosing your fights wisely." Maria gave a small nod. "That said, thank you. Again." Shadow said that last part a little muttered and Maria smiled and chuckled a little. Looking at the time and seeing the second round was about to begin.

Knuckles was up against a muscular martial artist, the man charging Knuckles. However, Knuckles overpowered the martial artist with ease, tossing him out of the ring.

The match after had Mr. Tanaka vs Agent Topaz. But the match...didn't go as expected. Tanaka walked up with Topaz ready to fight. However, when Tanaka gave the woman jewelry she absolutely melted. Even Rouge was extremely confused. Maria acted like she puked a little in her mouth.

It was then Ella vs. Gemerl, with Gemerl taking the win easily. After wards was a real fight between Rouge and Tails.

Rouge charged after Tails as he dodged back, taking off towards the sky. Tails landed a few hits on Rouge as she decided he wasn't that bad. Rouge landed with her back towards the edge of the ring. "You know kid, you're not half bad." Tails hesitated, then launched himself forward as Rouge dodged, planting a kiss on Tails's cheek as he dropped off the ring stunned. He looked up to see Rouge wink at him before walking away.

The next match started, pitting Amy vs. Shadow.

Amy ran forward with her hammer raised up. "I'm going to pound some humor into you."

Shadow ran forward. "Don't make me laugh." He stated as Amy swung her hammer and Shadow dodged to the side. Amy kept swinging as Shadow taunted her, hitting the hammer away with a Chaos Spear and hitting Amy with a spin dash. "So, give up yet?" Shadow asked.

"I never give up Shadow!" Amy yelled back at him, summoning another hammer as Shadow burst forward, shoulder ramming her away. She looked up to see Shadow with her hammer as he slammed it down next to her, suggesting she tap out again. This time, Amy listened.

The tournament was getting close to the big finale, and everyone could feel it. The next round opened with Mr. Tanaka fighting Gemerl. Tanaka threw a punch but Gemerl blocked and did a turn kick, knocking the wind out of Tanaka as Gemerl won the match.

Shadow was up next, seeing his opponent was Rouge. They charged at each other, Rouge taking to the sky as Shadow followed suit. However, when Rouge looked down Shadow was gone. She looked around, then flt a sudden weight on her back. "You know, I'm really starting to hate that teleport thing you do." She stated, spinning around quickly and knocking Shadow off her back. As Shadow fell, he landed on the stadium floor and launched a volley of Chaos Needles with Rouge flying around them in a fancy fashion. She came down, kicking Shadow on the head. As she tried to fly away, Shadow grabbed her leg and slammed her down. She got up, turning to see Shadow with a fist raised. "You wouldn't hit a lady now would you?" She asked. Shadow thought for a split second, then threw his punch and knocking Rouge out cold.

"You're no "lady". And...that was for Tails." Shadow stated, walking away.

The semi-finals had started, Gemerl outclassing its opponent as Knuckles squared off with Shadow.

"Always wanted a rematch." Knuckles stated as he got into a deadlock with Shadow.

"Sorry to disappoint, but that Emerald is mine." Shadow stated, breaking off a slamming Knuckles with a spin dash and sending him back. Knuckles got back up, keeping his eye on Shadow and threw a punch, slamming Shadow in the chest and sending his opponent back. Shadow looked back up, forming Chaos Needles and sending them Knuckle's way. Knuckles moved away as Shadow jumped at him, bringing his leg down for a kick. Knuckles moved to the side grabbing the leg and tossed Shadow out of the ring. But Shadow refused to go out like that. He flashed blue and appeared back on stage...right in front of Knuckle's fist being planted into his face knocking him back out the ring and into the dirt below.

Shadow looked up with Knuckles having his hand raised. "Saw it coming pal." Knuckles stated, getting ready for the final fight with Gemerl


	31. A dangerous Gamble

The final fight had started between Knuckles and Gemerl had started.

The bell rang as Knuckles and Gemerl ran after each other, Knuckles letting out a war cry. Knuckles threw a heavy punch, but Gemerl jumped back dodging it and throwing an axe kick. Knuckles caught the kick with his arms as Gemerl was thrown back. On the way back down, Gemerl started to twist, hoping to slam down on Knuckles. But Knuckles slid back quickly, Gemerl missing him as Knuckles put it in a full nelson hoping to break the bot. But things went badly when Gemerl started to spin dash.

"WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!?" Knuckles yelled as he held on for dear life. Up in the stands, Shadow was utterly shocked, thinking he was the only one that could spin dash.

Gemerl shot into the air, carrying Knuckles with him inside the spin dash. Knuckles was barely holding on when Gemerl slammed into the ground, leaving Knuckles on his back. As Knuckles was getting up, Gemerl slammed into him again and knocking him over. Germerl came in for another hit and Knuckles rolled away, throwing a punch and slugging Gemerl. Gemerl backflipped, sticking the landing as Knuckles came up swinging. However, Gemerl was not only dodging the punches, but matching Knuckles as well, raising its leg up and kicking Knuckles off to the side. As he was getting up, Knuckles turned and saw Gemerl coming with a fist before it slammed into his face, knocking him out.

Knuckles started coming back around not long after, looking on as Gemerl was given the Chaos Emerald. However, something was wrong. Gemerl's eyes started to get a red tint where they used to be blue, twitching about when it put the Chaos Emerald down and spin dashed into the crowd and smashed the stands. Everyone ran away screaming except for Shadow, Knuckles, and Rouge. The three launched after Gemerl when the robot turned around, spin dashing all three of them away.

"Now do you get why I thought this was a bad idea!?" Shadow asked Rouge, running after Cream to keep her from being crushed.

Amy ran after Gemerl, hammer at the ready when the robot picked off a piece of metal, using it to defend itself and disarming Amy. Jumping into the air, Gemerl copied Amy by her moves and was about to bring the pipe down when Shadow jumped to intercept, breaking the metal and moving his leg around licking Gemerl with his heel. Gemerl landed on the ground and saw Shadow running. However, as Shadow neared Gemerl released a yellow energy discharge, knocking Shadow away and taking off into the city with Shadow, Knuckles, and Rouge hot on his trail.

"What's wrong with Gemerl?" Knuckles asked.

"The robot was originally from Robotnik, capable of copying moves." Rouge answered. "From what we understand, it was originally meant to beat Shadow blow for blow but wasn't durable enough until..."

Shadow scowled. "Until G.U.N started poking with technology it didn't understand. The Chaos Emerald reverted it back to it's primary objective and now it's got the muscle to boot."

Knuckles charged forward, but Gemerl matched him blow for blow hitting him with the same force. Gemerl spin dashed, bouncing off of Knuckles and Rouge then hitting Shadow.

 _"The thing must have some weakness."_ Shadow thought as Gemerl started to run away. The three gave chase, with Shadow asking if there was a fail safe device.

Rouge was a little nervous as she tried to keep up. "It wasn't supposed to fail so...no." Rouge answered nervously. They made it to the ocean by the time Shadow and Knuckles could catch up while Rouge fell behind, to winded to keep up with the two.

Maria was in her grandfathers car as she Cream and Cheese followed. "Gemerl must've led them to the sea because it knows Shadow hates water." Maria commented.

Shadow growled in frustration. "Knuckles, I'm popping off the rings. Get back!" Shadow warned as his inhibitor rings flew off and the chaotic energy surrounded Shadow. Shadow increased his power into Chaos Wrath, the energy around him turning into a red flame. "COPY THIS!" Shadow challenged. Gemerl sparked up as its eyes glowed, an odd blue energy surrounding it. Shadow slammed into Gemerl, but Gemerl stood it's ground matching Shadow's energy output. _"it can't keep this up forever. It'll burn out sooner or later."_ Shadow thought as he released a Chaotic Blast. However, Gemerl also released its energy and matched Shadow's causing a massive explosion. Shadow blasted through the smoke, determined to tear Gemerl apart. But Gemerl was also extremely clever, seeing the attack coming as it shot out a blue spear made of energy and it hit Shadow dead on, forcing Shadow back as he took a knee.

Rouge came up. "You can't beat it with brute force!" She warned as Shadow started to loose his wind. But that didn't stop Shadow as he launched himself in a vain attempt, but Gemerl matched him. What he didn't expect was a kick to the side from cre-CREAM!? As Gemerl started to study the bunny, a blue ball smacked the head around. Knuckles helped Shadow up, giving him the inhibitor rings as Shadow put them back on before he burnt out entirely. "How are they fighting Gemerl?"Rouge asked in shock. They were just a couple of kids, the weakest of the bunch. So why-?

"Because they hit at the same time." Shadow stated. "Gemerl can only copy one thing at a time. It's programming must make it so that it has to scan anything new and those two aren't giving Gemerl a chance to do that making him useless."

Knuckles nodded. "So let's-"

"We can't." Shadow cut him off. "Gemerl knows all our moves, but knows nothing of Cream and Cheese. He looked up, seeing Gemerl still getting the parts kicked out of it. "We have to let them win this fight.

Cream came up into the air, Gemerl trying to copy her when Cheese smacked the head back and Cream slammed her feet into Gemerls face plate, shattering the robot as it fell into the ocean. Cream landed, exhausted but unharmed as she looked at Shadow. "Are you ok?" She asked concerned.

"I'm fine Cream. Thanks to you." He stated, putting a hand on her shoulder. He then looked at Rouge, an understanding forming between them as Rouge called the President, telling him that all experiments with Robotnik's tech should stop until further notice.

Shadow turned, looking at the ocean and hoping trouble was over with Robotnik's tech.


	32. Treasure Island

It had been weeks since the Gemerl disaster happened. Shadow and crew sat in Maria's living room, Shadow snoozing on the couch as a news report played, telling everyone of a boat known as the "Seahawk" went missing in a heavy fog. Shadow twitched his ear, cracking his eyes open as he listened in to helicopters trying to find the missing boat.

Maria thought for a moment. "Maybe the ship hit something when it went into the fog?" Maria suggested, wincing as her wrist had a spiked pain. She looked at her hand, the wrist wrapped in a brace. She flexed her fingers a bit, making them open and close.

Chuck shook his head. "A ship like that would have instruments that would make it navigate safely through fog. I'm thinking there's something else going on."

"Like what?" Shadow asked.

"Well..." Chuck started. "Other strange things have been happening in that area. Maybe we should take the yacht and have a look." He suggested.

Shadow nodded, looking at Maria. "Are you up for a small adventure?" Maria looked at him shocked, motioning her hand a little bit. "Should be a simple "Search and Rescue" mission. Nothing serious." Shadow gave off a small smile, and Maria returned it. He looked outside to see Rouge, and his face went serious again. Taking a step outside, the two took off into town to make sure they weren't followed.

When they were far enough away, Shadow asked what was on his mind. "Rouge, what do you want?"

Rouge gave a mock gasp. "What? A girl can't just say hi?"

Shadow crossed his arms. "She can, but you're not here for that. Now answer my question."

"You'll never get a girl if you keep that attitude." Rouge replied. Shadow turned to leave. "It's about the Sea Hawk." She stated, getting Shadow's attention. "It holds classified government intel, and we want to make sure it doesn't get into the wrong hands. I heard about your little trip, and I want to bring someone else along." She stated, bringing out a picture. "This is Doctor Cadberry, an archeologist that claims to know the area." Shadow thought for a moment. He knew Rouge was telling the truth, but there had to be another motive. There was always another motive. Rouge faltered for a moment. "It's Topaz, my partner. She was on the boat."

"Understood." Shadow stated, walking away and leaving it at that.

.

The next day, the group was off and headed out to sea with Knuckles tagging along and Tails bringing the X Tornado. Dr. Cadberry told them about the island of Maracia, the ancient people who were an advance race at the time but were destroyed by a volcano. Shadow kept an uneasy face through the whole thing, not liking being on top of water. The trip continued through the day and night and half the next day when they spotted the island dead ahead, exactly where it should be. They got to the shore, meeting up with the crew of Sea Hawk as Rouge talked with Topaz when the Chaos Emeralds Shadow had started to react to something.

"Tails?" Shadow asked as Tails nodded.

"I know. There's a Chaos Emerald around here..." Tails confirmed. He got in the X Tornado as Maria hopped in the back, Shadow Rouge and Knuckles deciding to stay on the outside. Tails flew around, heading over the Volcano as the Chaos Emeralds started to glow.

 _"Figures..."_ Shadow thought to himself as Tails brought the Tornado down. The group inspected a hallway, Rouge taking the lead as she had better eyesight. Maria wanted to come along, but Shadow insisted she stay behind on this one, maybe help Tails find another way through.

"The hallway is sealed off from here..." She stated, showing the way forward.

Shadow nodded, spin dashing the rocks when the roof started to rumble.

"If you don't stop you'll bury us!" Knuckles warned, forcing Shadow to back off. Rouge inspected the wall, finding another way through.

They walked along the narrow path, Rouge continuing to lead the way when they came across a mass of water. Knuckles forged ahead, trying to locate another way through. However, he came up saying they'd have to swim.

"Let's try finding a different route." Shadow suggested but Knuckles grabbed his arm.

"Oh no you don't. The bat can rot in this cave for all I care but you're coming with me!" Knuckles told Shadow as he dragged the hedgehog underwater. Rouge followed quickly, not letting herself just take that insult.

They made it to the other side, Shadow coughing and giving Knuckles a dirty look. However, it changed when a light showed through. He burst out, looking around as he saw massive ancient ruins and the X Tornado flying by. Shadow landed on the side of the plane, asking how they managed it and Tails explained he gunned his way down, careful not to collapse the volcano.

The group landed, Tails taking video when suddenly the ground shook and rumbled. Tails got a call on his radio, stating the Volcano had just had a small spike in activity. Shadow nodded, grabbing the Violet Chaos Emerald and taking off, determined to find the one inside this place.

He searched the far areas when he saw it, a green light that pulsed slightly. Shadow jumped at the Emerald, snatching it away when the two Emeralds in his hands started to glow and react to each other. The ground rumbled more as Tails radioed Shadow in stating the Volcano was growing in activity. "Understood Tails. I'll be back soon!" Shadow stated, bolting off to find everyone else. However, when he reached them the earth began to steam, the ground splitting apart as the roof began to fall. Tails warned everyone else to leave the island as everyone loaded up. Shadow got on top of the X Tornado as Tails dodged away from the debris, going for the opening he made when a huge chunk of the ceiling fell.

"Now's as good a time as any!" Shadow thought, summoning the Green Chaos Emerald and flipping it in the air. "Chaos...CONTROL!" He shouted, catching the Emerald in front of him. A bright light surrounded the X Tornado as everybody closed their eyes, looking away. When they opened their eyes, they had made it to the exit just in the nick of time, Tails shooting out as he turned to see the Volcano erupt.

Knuckles looked at Shadow. "How'd you do that?" He asked.

Shadow tossed the Emerald in his hand up in the air, catching it as it fell down. "A move I learned after we fought Chaos. It allows me to make a smaller scale Chaos Control and stop time temporarily. Though, only with a Chaos Emerald in hand." Shadow explained as Tails headed for the Yacht. Everyone talked about the day, Tails showing all the video footage he gathered as Shadow looked at the now sinking island.

.

"Are you sure? Check it again." A woman stated, looking at a monitor.

"I'm sure about it Ma'am. We're in serious trouble." A man stated. "Time is...well, coming to an end. And there's only one way to stop it."


	33. Opening theme

Hey guys, Spiders here. So, let's get down to it. The Finale is here! We made it! So, I'm going to give an opening for this story just for you guys. Is it cheesy? Maybe. But that won't stop me.

Opening "Fist Bump" (Sonic Forces main theme.)

as the music starts, images of Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, Amy, Cream and Cheese flash by. The music picks up the tempo, flashing Shadow for a moment to show a logo for "Shadow X"

 _"I can't do this alone, even though I am strong!"_  
Shadow runs along, Tails appearing behind him along with Amy and Knuckles.  
 _"Need something more than me, someone to push me to victory!"_

 _"Let's see what we can do, together me and you!"_  
Shadow stays on the hull of the X Tornado as Tails fly's it into the sky with Maria, and Amy in the back.  
 _"Can't be afraid to try, Kiss your fears GOODBYE!"_  
Robotniks left arm comes up, forming a fist around the X Tornado as he smiles wickedly.

 _"No looking back! You and I were on the attack"_  
Shadow jumps off the X Tornado,  
 _"Full Speed ahead"_  
Shadow hit the ground running, breaking the sound barrier.  
 _"Running to the Sunset!"_

 _"Such a different feeling, both of us believing"  
_ Shadow and Maria stare at each other, a smile on both their faces.  
 _"We can make it better"_

 _"Together, WE can show the world what we can do!"  
_ Shadow free falls, taking off his rings as he slams through Robotniks mechs. _  
"You are next to me and I'm next to you"  
_ Shadow blows past everyone right down the middle, hitting a tower as he charged up it. _  
"Push me on through until the battle's won!"  
_ Shadow bursts out the top of the tower.

 _"No one's going to give nothing to us, Into each other we put our trust"_  
Shadow descends as Tails catches him, setting him down in front of everyone facing a whole crowd of Robotnik's mechs.  
 _"Standing united, after the fight"_

 _"All alone, we will never be"  
_ Shadow sits on a cliff side when a hand grabs his shoulder. _  
"The two of us, are holding the key."  
_ Shadow turns to see Maria, handing him a green Chaos Emerald. _  
"We see today, a world we couldn't see"_  
Shadow touches the jewel and is surrounded by the other Chaos Emeralds, his fur turning yellow.  
 _"Before I say goodbye to you..."_  
shadow holds out his hand, his rings off and his fist clenched.  
 _"One more last fist bump."_  
Maria puts her fist to his, and shadow disappears in shards blowing away from Maria.

Screen fades to black as the music dies down.


	34. Revelation

Disclaimer: This is the start of the finale. Some spoilers are in here so I'm asking you to not spoil anything for the next few chapters should you review. That doesn't mean I don't want you saying anything, just nothing that would tip people off to any big surprises I have in store. Thank You

.

Maria had just gotten out of school, running home excited as her parents were around. It seemed like they had been around more often nowadays, or did the days just go by faster? It didn't matter her one way or the other. She got home, bursting through the doors as she set her bag down. She head out into the back yard, finding her parents as they having a barbecue with her dads...less than stellar cooking. He'd burnt the shish-ka-bobs to a crisp, but nobody had the heart to tell him he was a bad cook.

"Hey everyone!" Nelson stated to get everyone's attention. "My Shish-ka-bobs are done so get ready! They're gonna knock you out!" He said with a chuckle.

Chuck walked up to Maria, Tails, and Amy. "I just hope the medics will be able to revive us." he muttered as the three laughed.

Maria looked around, a confused look about her. "Where's Shadow?"

"He's out for a run." Tails answered. "Somethings been bugging him lately, but he wouldn't tell me what."

Amy nodded. "He just needs to clear his head is all. I'm sure he's fine." Maria nodded at that answer, hoping Shadow can come to terms with whatever's on his mind.

Mr. Tanaka came out, whispering something in Chuck's ear. Chuck went inside, leaving everyone else behind as he picked up the phone.

"Chuck here. You what? Project homebound? Now? Well, I'll need some time to prepare. Not to mention we only have fi- oh, six now I guess. But I'll still need time. Yes Sir, I understand. Thanks for the notice." Chuck said solemnly. He set the phone down and put his head in his hands, holding back a few tears as he shook his head and went out to enjoy the party, deciding it best to talk with Tails when "they" got here.

.

Up on the highway at night, Sam had been chasing a speeding driver down. Sam warned him several time to pull over, but the driver just kept going.

"WATCH OUT!" Sam warned as the driver realized his mistake and drove off the highway falling to the water below. Sam got out of his car, looking over the edge when a gust of wind flew past him, smashing through the window of the falling car a flash of blue appeared just before the car hit the ground and exploded. Sm turned around to see Shadow.

"Hmph. Weren't fast enough to catch this guy? You're loosing your touch Sam." Shadow taunted.

"Oh yeah?" Sam took the challenge, heading for his car and speeding off. Shadow looked at the person he saved, telling him to start walking before speeding off after Sam and matching speeds. "Ok Shadow, let me show you the new top speed." Sam stated as he pulled a lever and his car shot forward with incredible speed. However, Shadow was next to him in an instant and then he was gone, blasting past Sam as he made a jump off the highway, similar to the day the two met.

.

Maria sat in her bedroom, thinking about the day she had. She figured life was going good, her parents were around, she had friends, everything just felt...right. Even if Shadow was a no show tonight, but he probably has a lot on his mind. She heard a splash outside, looking through her window and running down the stairs. _"How did Shadow manage to land in the pool again?"_ She thought to herself and laughed a little. But when she got outside, she looked down to see a wet kitten shaking itself off and walking away. Maria turned her back when she noticed a light coming from a nearby room, as well as hearing voices both familiar and unfamiliar to her.

.

Nelson, Lindsey, Tails, and Chuck were gathered in the room listening as a scientist had explained the grave situation they were in.

Nelso stood up at the revelation. "But how can time stop? That's impossible!" He stated.

Chuck shook his head. "I'm afraid it is possible."

The scientist continued her story. "Somewhere in the distant past, or possibly the far future, our world and Shadow's were one and the same. Then a catastrophic event caused the two to split apart with it's own timeline and everything. Our best guess is that our world and Shadow's are mirror images of each other in different dimensions, and thanks to Chaos Control happening that barrier has weakened. The dimensional barrier is falling apart and if the two timelines of our worlds cross, time will forever stand still."

"Ok, so how do we stop this from happening?" Nelson asked.

"I've made some calculations. What's pulling the timelines together is all the Mobian species on this world." The scientist stated. "If we send them all back, we have a chance to prevent that from happening. And I hear you might need this." She stated, handing Tails the Cyan Blue Chaos Emerald.

Tails's eyes widened. "You guys want to cause a Chaos Control!?"

Chuck nodded. "our only hope to save both worlds is to send you, Shadow, and the others back home. Anything organic, and it would probably be best for your advanced technology to leave this planet to." He explained.

 _"No..."_ Maria thought as a vase fell, shattering on the ground. Everyone turned, a nervous look as they saw her. "No...that can't be. You can't send Shadow away..." She said, a distance in her voice. "Shadow...Shadow helps people when they need it." She said, remembering when she was in a wheelchair stuck in the mud. "He saved Station Square from Chaos! Don't you remember any of that?" She asked desperately. "Or is this all some ploy so the government can get rid of Shadow?" Everyone had a look on their faces, not sure what to think as tears welled up in Maria's eyes. "ANSWER ME DAMMIT!" She screamed as the tears started to pour down.

Chuck got up, walking to his grand daughter and put a warm hand on her shoulder. "Maria, I'm sorry. But all of us are in danger. It's nobody's fault, but Shadow needs to get back home now. It's the only way."

Maria looked at him in shock, moving his hand off her shoulder as she backed up. "Y-you're with them...Of all the people, you chose their side..." She said in a half whisper before she clenched her eyes shut and ran out the door. "I HATE YOU!" She screamed as she ran away.

"Maria!" Nelson called out but Chuck put his arm up.

"Let her go son. She didn't mean it." Chuck said as he went over to the remains of the vase. Tails went over, helping him pick up the pieces. "She's just afraid is all." He said to Tails, putting the pieces in his hands. "I'm upset about this to. If time were to stop, I wouldn't grow older. I'd have forever to do my research and build."

Tails nodded as he helped. "That does sound nice, but if time stopped then what would be the point of progress? Everyday would be the exact same as the day before. The future wouldn't exist and the past wouldn't matter." Tails finished.

The two looked at each other and mist formed in Chucks eye's. "I'll miss you...my friend."

.

Maria was running as hard as she could. _"No, it has to be some kind of trick! It just isn't fair!"_ She thought to herself. _"Robotnik has to be behind this. That's the only explanation. I'll force him to confess, and everything will be fine!"_ The only problem was she had no real way of seeing Robotnik. She didn't know where he was. Then, a shadow passed overhead and Maria looked up to see Rouge having a nice flight. "Rouge!" She yelled, getting the bats attention as Rouge landed. "Rouge, take me to Robotnik, please!" She begged.

"Why? What do you need from him?" Rouge asked curious. Why anyone would want to see that madman was beyond her.

Maria came up, putting her hands on Rouge's shoulders. "Please! I need answers only he has! They want to send all of you away!" Maria begged and Rouge knew exactly what she meant. Shrugging, Rouge picked Maria up, carrying her several miles away to see Robotnik sitting in his cell, the left sleeve empty and tied in a knot.

.

At the Thorndyke Mansion, Tanaka came back inside and explained he couldn't find Maria anywhere.

"It's ok, Tanaka." Nelson stated. "We should've been more understanding with her."

Lindsey grabbed her husbands arm. "What can we do? Where did she go?"

"I have a pretty good guess." Chuck stated, getting everyone's attention. "I'm willing to be Maria left to find Robotnik." Everyone gasped. "I say we let her. She needs answers that nobody else can provide. Facing Robotnik might help her accept the truth about all of this." Chuck explained.

.

"You!" Maria said venomously as she got to the bars. "What have you done?"

Robotnik turned around. "What are you talking about girl? I've been in here ever since Shadow destroyed GUN base."

"No! You're behind all this! You're the one forcing time to stop! You're doing this so that they'd send Shadow away!" Maria accused.

Robotnik raised an eyebrow, then started laughing madly. "How would I manage to pull it off? I want to RULE the world, not freeze it in time. If I did that, there would be no future in it! If time really is coming to a stop then I'm just as doomed as the rest of you." He stated, then gave Maria a once over. "They're going to send us all back, aren't they? Well, in that case it's a blessing that We'll never see each other again."

"Y-you're lying...that can't be true..." Maria said.

"Why not? Because you don't want it to be true? Face it kid, our time on this planet is done. As is that so called "friendship" of yours with Shadow. You're days of adventure are now over, and your life will go back to the way it always used to be." Robotnik taunted.

Maria grabbed the bars of his cell. "FIX IT! You brought everyone here! YOU ruined Shadows life! It's all YOUR FAULT!"

"HA! Ruined is a harsh word." Robotnik stated as he walked up. "He never told you, did he? Well, let me set the record straight kid." Robotnik stated, getting in Maria's face.

"I MADE Shadow."

Maria's eyes widened in horror. "No...that's not true..."

Robotnik nodded. "You think one is BORN with those abilities? Shadow was made to be my ultimate weapon against those fuzzy friends of his, but he rebelled against me and has been a thorn in my side ever since. As were you."

Maria backed up and her face paled. "No...I don't believe you...IT CAN'T BE TRUE!" Maria screamed as she ran out. Rouge followed her out, making sure Maria wasn't arrested for being on government property. Rouge followed till Maria was in the city, and left the kid to her own devices.

Maria sat in an alley, her back propped against the wall as she sobbed her sorrows away. When she was done, she came to terms with it all. The story was done. It's over, her adventures had finished. She hated the idea, it wasn't fair. But she was used to it.

.

Nelson paced around, getting impatient. " can't stand it! I'll hire a team of Comandos to go and find her!"

Chuck scoffed at the idea. "That's absurd." He scolded when the door suddenly opened as Maria walked in, everyone crowding around her. She hugged Chuck, apologizing for what she said earlier. "It's ok Maria. You were angry, and it was a lot to take in."

Nelson came up. "Right. Now, wipe those tears away and get your chin up Maria. I promise, everything will be ok." Nelson stated and Maria faltered, but put a plastic smile on her face, but her parents bought it.

Maria left for her room, staring at the moon. "Shadow..." She muttered.

.

Elsewhere, Shadow was hoping along pillars when he turned around. "Maria?" He asked, but saw nothing. "Guess I should head back if I'm already this tired." He muttered, then something felt like it was drawing his attention. He looked over and in one of the rocks, he saw a pearly Silver light inside one of the rocks. A smirk formed on Shadows face.


	35. Time to Say Goodbye

Shadow made it back to the Thorndyke Mansion and handed the Silver Chaos Emerald to Tails. Tails explained to him the new problems that has risen to the surface and Shadow listened, thinking that might be what's making his Chaos Powers act a little funny. He was glad he was going home however. It's what he's wanted for almost a year now since they got to this planet. But something else was bugging him about it. How would Maria handle it? They should have made it back home nearly nine months ago, yet they stayed here. And he knew why. Was she ready to let them go? Shadow shook his head, clearing out the thoughts. Maria would have to come to terms with this on her own, Shadow can't help her. Not as he is. He walked along the side of the pool, seeing Maria off to the side with her head hanging low with her bag on her back.

He couldn't just let her be alone, not like this. "Maria." He called out, getting her attention. He walked over, grabbing her hand that wasn't still in the brace. "Hold on tight." He warned as Maria smiled a little and held on to Shadow tightly before feeling the wind in her face, but it ended to soon when Shadow dropped her off at her high school.

School was the absolute last place Maria wanted to be. All she thought about was what Robotnik had told her, that everything would simply revert back to the way things were. It ate at her through the day, she couldn't stand the thought of it. She didn't want to go back. She had friends for the first time, real friends that didn't care if she was rich. And when they were gone...

.

A week went by fast as Tails and Chuck built their machine, finishing it with the help of the Chaos Emeralds. The question rose on how they'd manage to bring the Emeralds with them, and Shadow stated he could be a temporary anchor for them since his body is filled with Chaos Energy. Once Shadow stepped through the portal, the Chaos Emeralds would follow him and the link between the two worlds would sever forever.

They had set it up at the bridge connecting Station Square to the rest of the world. Maria had dressed in her dark blue dress, an opening to the side to show her leg. she kept her wrist brace on, scared that it would spike in pain again. Despite her rapid healing, she still had issues with her hand when she broke it barely a month ago.

As Maria was heading out the door, her mother grabbed hold, telling her keep her chin up and everything was going to be ok. Maria nodded as she left out the door, her face turning sour. That was the main reason she didn't want her parents at this departure, so she could avoid that stupid line.

She loaded up in the car as Tails took off in his original bi-plane Tornado since he and Chuck used parts from the X Tornado. Knuckles was already at the bridge, Angel Island floating not far away. Robotnik was also there in his normal attire, though his sleeve was still empty. Unfortunately, the machine would send everyone in a different location based on their thoughts, so it would be impossible to keep track of Robotnik. They'd have to let him go.

Maria looked over and saw a huge circle, the Seven Chaos Emeralds in cases along the outer ridge. Tails typed away, hitting a green button when the machine powered up, then shut off again. Maria couldn't help but smile a little bit.

"What's wrong Tails?" Shadow asked.

"Well, I overestimated how much power the starter could take." Tails explained. "Unless, I don't need the starter..." He said as he typed away, moving wires and making adjustments needed as he slammed down the green button again and the Chaos Emeralds glowed, opening the portal. Robotnik walked through the portal, laughing madly as he disappeared. "I DID IT!" Tails exclaimed, excited that it works.

Chuck put a hand on his shoulder. "Excellent work...Tails.." Chuck choked up, bringing Tails in for a hug and started to sob. "I'm going to miss you..." (Cue Shining Road.)

 _"Watashitachi no sekai wa, mahoe o, kakerarete."  
_ Tails hugged him back. "I'll miss you to Chuck. It was a lot of fun, building things together with you. I'll never forget you."  
 _"Aisuru tokimeki sae,namida no, fuujirareteru"_

 _"Boy (boy) Futari de jumon o sagashi ni ikou"  
_ Amy and Cream held hands. "I guess it won't be long now..." She stated. Ella came up to Amy, handing her a book as Amy opened it. "These are...all your recipes...Thank you Ella. You and Tanaka made us welcome in this alien world..." That's when Amy broke down, the group hugging each other fiercely before separating, as Amy and Cream stepped through the portal.  
 _"Kinjirareta yuma o kanaerareru kuni he"_

"Thank you for everything!" Cream yelled as the two disappeared.  
 _"dare ni mo naisho de ashita machiawaseshi you"_

 _"itsuka kotori o umeta yoake no mieru oka de"_  
Tails was next, flying his plane through the Portal. "It's been a blast!" He yelled as he went through, with Chuck saluting the pilot a farewell.  
 _"Tsumetai asa mo ya kimi to Te tsunaidara"_

Maria stared through the portal. _"Good bye Cream, Amy, Tails...I'll never forget you..."_ She thought to herself.

 _"Hikaru micha no fuuin ga tokeruyo"_  
Rouge handed Topaz a box. "Take this before I change my mind." She stated, as Topaz opened the box to reveal a gem of the same color as he name. "When I saw that gem in the jewelry store I just HAD to get it for you...You could say it was a steal." She joked as Topaz nodded, holding back the mist forming in her eyes. "See ya." Rouge stated, going through the portal and Topaz broke down, saying her goodbye's to her partner.  
 _"Hateshinaku"_

All that was left were Knuckles and Shadow. "Soon we'll be back home Shadow...back home." Knuckles stated, as Shadow nodded having a yellow tint around him. "I'll meet you on the other side." Knuckles said as he glowed a green color, warping Angel Island with himself through the portal.

Shadow walked forward, but Maria called out to him. "Well...Shadow. It's been...fun." She said as she extended her hand.

Shado smirked a little as he took it. "Indeed it has Maria...Thank you...for everything." He stated, the two letting go.

 _"There has to be another way..."_ Maria thought as she watched Shadow turn. _"Please don't go..."_  
 ** _"Once he's gone, your life will go back to the way it was before..."_** Robotnik's words echoed in her head as Shadow walked up to the portal. _"I can't...I WON'T..."_ Shadow got to the entrance and Maria clenched.

Shadow stepped up to the portal when the doors shut on him and the Emeralds fell. He turned his head, not believing his eyes. Tears pouring out of her eyes, Maria's hand was on the off switch.


	36. Closing the Wounds

Shadow stepped up to the portal when the doors shut on him and the Emeralds fell. He turned his head, not believing his eyes. Tears pouring out of her eyes, Maria's hand was on the off switch.

"Shadow!" She yelled as she ran up to him, grabbing his arm before taking off.

"MARIA!?" Nelson yelled as Maria turned, steeling her face as she continued to run.

Shadow moved along with Maria. "Maria? What's gotten into you?" He asked, stopping himself as he pulled his arm free. Maria looked at him, panic in her eyes when the two heard bushes rustling behind them. Maria backed up turning to run when Shadow caught up to her, picking her up before running ahead and leaving everyone behind.

.

Tanaka and Topaz searched well into the night, but couldn't find a trace of Shadow or Maria.  
"We'll have to get help from the police. This is serious." Topaz warned as Chuck inspected the machine.

"I know. We don't have long to cause Chaos Control and send Shadow back." Chuck explained. "We'll have to start first thing in the morning. But we've all had a stressful day. Maria should be fine, so long as Shadow's with her."

.

Shadow had slowed to a walk as he set Maria down a city over from Station Square. The two walked, Maria finding it difficult and irritating in the heels she wore. Shadow looked around, seeing a clothing store as he got Maria's attention.

Maria got a new set of clothes, a white T-shirt to go with a pair of jeans and some black sneakers. They walked out as Maria paid in cash, throwing the dress in the alleyway behind the store.

"What's our plan Maria?" Shadow asked as he walked alongside her.

Maria looked at him, still surprised he's with her right now. "I...I don't know. I can't go back home...Maybe we can-hmm?" A bike leaning up against the wall with a note on it, saying to take if needed. Well, Maria certainly needed it. She got on, Shadow riding in the back as Maria rode off on the streets. "How far should we go Shadow?" She asked.

Shadow simply shrugged. "As far as you need to go Maria." Maria nodded at that, pushing herself to go faster and out of the neighborhood they were in until there was nothing left to see, hitting a field of dirt around the road when Maria ran out of breath, stopping at a burger joint nearby.

Ordering the food, the two sat outside as Shadow munched down on his food while Maria studied a map. "The world seems big when it's on the open road in front of you. Is there any place you want to go to?" She asked Shadow.

Shadow simply shook his head. "I've already been to most places, and the ones I haven't been to are the ones that I don't know about." He answered.

Maria nodded. "Ok, well...a beach is definitely out, the dessert's to hot...I just don't know..." She stated as she shook her head. "Shadow...do you think they're looking for us?"

"What makes you ask that?" Shadow responded.

Maria hung her head low. "I don't know. How long do you think it would take for them to just quit?" She asked, looking up to see the T.V playing from the window as it showed a picture of her and a message from her mother begging Maria to come home. That's when she decided to bail on this place as Shadow followed, getting back on the bike.

They rode for another few hours, Maria was tired and sweaty, and frustrated when the front tire popped. The two hopped off, inspecting the bike when they heard the sound of Helicopter blades in the distance. "Those are my dad's!"

Shadow looked towards the road ahead. "Maria, give up yet?" He asked. Maria shook her head, defiantly saying no. "Ok, wait here." Shadow told her as he sprung away to intercept a man driving a pick up truck and asking if they could get a ride. The man eagerly agreed, and soon Maria was in the passenger seat as Shadow slept in the back with the hay, avoiding the helicopters.

They stopped towards a forest trail, Maria walking ahead as Shadow followed. They walked for another hour when Shadow heard the sounds of a water fall. He waited to see what Maria would do as she started to climb up, using rocks that jutted out as handles. As She was climbing, her wrist spiked with pain, though she held on. Shadow jumped from rock to rock, getting ahead of Maria in no time as he offered a helping hand. Maria took it, though something seemed off about the accepting help. She led the two of them to a steep hill, hiking up it. She looked back at Shadow and clenched her eyes shut like she was mad, then ran up the hill. Shadow watched as she started to loose balance when a rock under her gave way and she fell face first. Shadow bolted up the hill, offering a hand up but Maria swatted it away, saying she could take care of herself. Shadow shrugged, but bolted up the rest of the hill when Maria gasped. What he saw surprised him.

"Whoa..." He stated, looking at a beautiful lake with a log cabin next to it. "I've never been to this place before..."

.

Back at the Thorndyke mansion, Nelson paced back and forth as he yelled into the phone, Lindsey balling her eyes out as Chuck sat nearby.

"NO! I don't care what I have to sign. Do we not have enough choppers searching? GET MORE OUT THERE! Put the company on hold for all I care. I WANT MY DAUGHTER FOUND!" Nelson ordered about as he hung up.

Lindsey looked up. "Nelson, let's make another broadcast that Maria can have whatever he wants if he just comes home!" She said, getting up. "Call the clothing store, care dealership, whatever you have to do. Just get something!"

Nelson's face lit up with an idea. "I know. I'll get Maria her OWN clothing store! That should do it." He stated as he started to dial the phone.

 _"I can't take this anymore."_ Chuck thought as he got up. "Put the phone away!" He stated as Nelson looked at him stunned. "DO IT!" This time Nelson put the phone away. "You two are making a big mistake. You two can't rely on your corporations or money to bring Maria home because that's what's driving her AWAY. You'll never see Maria again until you understand why she left in the first place."

Lindsey sniffled. "But what drove her away? I just don't understand."

"That's the problem here, you don't understand." Chuck fired back. "Think hard, why would Maria run off? Was it only because of Shadow?" Or was it because she was afraid that when her friend left she'd be all alone again just like before Shadow got here?" Nelson looked like he was hit between the eyes. "You two didn't have the best of relationships with each other. In fact, when the first Chaos Control happened and Shadow disappeared, you two separated. When Shadow came back, so did you two. You see a pattern forming here?" Chuck asked rhetorically.

"So how do we get our daughter back?" Nelson asked.

"We'll do anything." Lindsey backed her husband up.

"Start acting like you want to be a family and not a corporation." Chuck suggested. "Maria wants to be found, but not by people you hire but by her parents. She's probably somewhere you two KNOW where she'll go. I suggest you go there, before it's to late."

.

Maria and Shadow had been working on setting up a camp all afternoon, Maria fidgeting with a rusty lock on keeping the doors shut when her hand had a painful spike. She growled in frustration, giving up as she looked at the horizon. "My parents and I used to come here all the time, I had so many good memories of this place. My dad would take me fishing in the lake, we'd all take nice walks, actually be a family...but one year we just stopped coming. They were always to busy...I doubt they even remember this place." She scoffed, then heard something shatter as she turned to see Shadow toss the rusted lock behind him and opening the doors.

"Well, guess that means we have the run of the place." Shadow suggested. Maria nodded as they took what supplies they needed when Shadow noticed something in an envelope. "Maria, get some wood for a fire, will you?" He asked as he pulled out the paper, reading it and sighing with what he saw.

The to got a fire going as Shadow put a cold rag on Maria's wrist.

"Shadow?" Maria asked nervously. "You haven't said anything about how I stopped you from leaving.

Shadow looked at her in the eye. "I wanted to hear your side of the story first."

Maria nodded, looking away. "Why did you come with me? Are you...going to stay?"

Shadow shrugged. "That's all up to you, Maria. I can go home or stay here and make sure that you won't be alone." Maria gave a confused look, asking what he meant. "Exactly what I said. I'll do what you need me to do. You saved me when I came here, gave everyone a place to stay."

Maria stood up. "So...you're doing this because you feel like you owe me something? I never was your friend, was I?" She asked as the tears started to form.

Shadow shrugged again. "Not at first, no. I had no interest in forming a friendship with you, or anyone. But then you started to grow on me, and saved my life more times after that. I don't consider many to be my friend, but you I think I can consider to be one. And, I'll grant you one wish for today only..."

"What do you mean?" Maria asked.

"Today, July 20...17 years ago you were born." Shadow stated, telling her about the paper he found in the cabin.

Maria was stunned to say the least. She had completely forgotten about her birthday..."Shadow...what did Robotnik do to you?" She asked and Shadow looked at her confused. "I thought he was behind all of this space time disaster, then he said that he...made you." She looked at him, concerned as he took a deep breath and let it out. "Are you a robot?" Shadow shook his head. "Ok. I'm sorry for asking..." She said, not wanting to press the subject.

Shadow sighed. "I wasn't born with these abilities." He stated, getting Maria's attention. "I wasn't always able to create a Chaos Spear, or teleport...Chaos Energy can do very strange things to ones body." He stated, remembering back to that day when his life changed forever.


	37. Truth

(POV)

.

A blur surrounds you as you smash through the milionth bot. "Hehehe, does Egghead really expect this to hold us? I'm a little disappointed." You say in a very cocky tone. You turn to see another female squirrel Mobian, wearing blue combat boots and a blue jacket.

"Easy for you at least." She says to you. "But we're running just a little behind schedule. If we don't pick this up, Eggman could escape from us. Still, it does seem a little to...easy."

"Don't worry about it Sally." You say, waving her warning off. "You're just being a worry wart again. Come on, let's roll!" You say as you scoop Sally up, running through the metal corridors as Sally touches her ear.

"Bunny, how are you doing on your front?" She asks as another female voice is heard.

"We're doing just fine Sally girl! In fact, it's easier than we had hoped." Bunny stated. Sally nodded, opening a computer as she pointed you to another hallway that leads to a cylinder room.

"Uh...Sally?" You ask. "Where are we?"

"I'm...not sure." Sally responds as she looked back down at her computer. "Nicole?"

"Analyzing..." The computer spoke as the two of you nodded.

"I hope we can end this soon." Sally stated, looking at you. "We've been fighting since we were just kids, it's been a long time coming."

You nod. "Yeah. The first thing I'm gonna do when I take down ole Robuttnik is eat a million chilly dogs. Then, I'm going on a world adventure!" You say optimistic.

"Well, I hope you don't go to far. What would Mobius be without it's "Great Hero" around?" Sally stated sarcastically.

"Right? But come on, you know I'm never far..." You say when Nicole beeps loudly.

"Something is wrong, this area isn't anywhere on my maps!" She states as the door shuts. "Careful, walls are...GET DOWN!" She yells as you tackle Sally to the ground, bullets flying over head as you scoop Sally in your arms, blasting around the room at high speed breaking all the sentry guns coming from the walls. The doors open as you walk to it, but a heavy metal object falls. You turn and see some type of red and silver armor with Robotnik inside, his left arm holding a shield as his right has a brown checkered ball attached to it.

"Hello, Rodent." Robotnick stated. "It was about time you showed up."

You chuckle just a bit. "Hey there, Eggman." You state as Robotnik growls a little at the name. "So, I see you got yourself a new toy. Bet I can break it!" you say, waving Sally off as you dash forward only to bounce off the shield.

"Not this time Rodent!" Eggman yells the ball detaches from his arm, swinging around as you dodge up only to be hit with a laser. "I let you get this far, but NO MORE!"

You get up, shaking the hit off as you look around the room. "Catch me if you can!" You yell as you gain a burst of speed, zooming around the walls as the back of Eggman's armor opens and launches missiles. You dodge what you can, heading straight for the armor once more.

As you near, Eggman swings his shield but you duck under, the missiles hitting Eggman as you skid to a halt. "What's the matter? Didn't make them home in on hedgeho-"

"BANG BANG BANG!"

"AHHH!"

You hear the pained scream of Sally after the gunshots. "SALLY!" You scream as you bolt out of the room, heading to the left as you see Sally nearby barely alive. Smashing through the gun that came from the wall, you turn but an electric energy field catches you, firing off every nerve in your body as you scream in pain. The next thing you see is the world going dark.

.

"GAHHH!" You scream again the the millionth time. How long you had been hooked up to this table was unknown. A claw came down and rotated, shooting you full of a violent green energy surge that feels worse than what you'd already experienced.

"How does it feel, Rodent?" Robotnik taunted. "Like you're about to explode? It should with all that Chaos Energy I've pumped into you. And I know it's working. You would to if you could see yourself!" Robotnik roared in laughter as more Chaos Energy was shot into you. Suddenly, an alarm blares warning the base of intruders. "Hmmm, I guess I can't keep you. At least I'll have the pleasure of watching you explode, taking your little "Freedom Group" with you. So long, Project Shadow! GAHAHAHAHA!"

You feel your body heating up you rip the shackles off, falling from the table as you hold your burning arms. Ripping through the door, you release a powerful red energy blast from the body as it disintegrates the area around you, leaving you in a smoldering crater.

"What was that about?" a southern voice calls out.

"It had to have been him! Let's go!" You hear, recognizing Tails's voice when two figures stop and see you. "Who is..."

"TAILS!" You cry out when you see the fox. "HELP ME!" when you feel more Chaos Energy coming from you. You release the energy before passing out of exhaustion.

Waking up, you look around to see a glass room as you sit on a bed. The first thing you feel is the pain, like thousands of ants biting you at once. Then, you here Tails's voice.

"You're finally awake, that's a relief." Tails states from a radio.

"TAILS!? TAILS WHERE AM I?!" You ask desperately. "Where's Sally?!"

"Sally is fine, she's recovering. But..." Tails states as you look down to see black arms with red highlights on them, along with a set of rings and cuffs. "Those are helping you keep all of that Chaos Energy inside of you. I'm sorry, but...we couldn't do anymore..."

"What's happened to me..." You ask as you walk to the glass to see a reflection you don't recognize."No...Nononononono" A Black Hedgehog stood in your place, white fur on your chest as red lined your eyelids, and your eyes are now a crimson red. You're no longer the hero anyone would feel at peace with. You look like someone everyone wants to avoid. You look dangerous. Your hands catch a green fire as you feel your emotions overrun you, before looking up as screaming at the top of your lungs. "ROBOTNIK!"


	38. Reconciliation

"That's what happened to me Maria..." Shadow stated, finishing telling Maria how he came to be.

Maria put her hands up to her mouth. "Shadow, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"I know you didn't." Shadow cut her off. "But you deserved to know. When I finally got my powers under control, things started to get better. Then we came here. Lately, my powers have been feeling a bit weaker..."

Maria remembered back to when Tikal was around, saying Chaos wasn't the only one being cleansed of violent Chaos Energy. "So...why aren't you back to being normal?"

Shadow shook his head. "My guess is that I wasn't focused on healing myself, but making sure everything was settled."

Maria just looked at Shadow, shaking her head. "But...why didn't you all go back home after the first Chaos Control?" She asked desperately.

Shadow looked back at Maria. "The Chaos Emeralds react with Willpower and the wishes of the one that gathered them. And I wasn't the only one who gathered them in one place." Shadow stated.

Maria looked down as realization hit her. "Are you saying that...it's my fault that you weren't..."

"Partially." Shadow confirmed. "But something had to be done when the bridge between our worlds opened. So the Master Emerald likely followed the Chaos Emeralds here when that link was reopened. At least, that's my guess."

"So...I'm the reason that you're..." Maria dropped to her knees. "I'm...

Shadow walked up, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Maria, I'm not angry at all. I just needed to make sure that you were going to be ok."

Maria shook her head. "No! It wasn't right for me to keep you here, it wasn't fair! I was selfish and in the end I let you down...I'm so sorry."

Shadow did something she didn't expect, he embraced her in for a hug. "The only way you could ever let me down is if you quit trying. And you never did."

Maria hugged him back, tightly as she let her emotions go. "When you go, I'll be all alone again just like before." Remembering her life before Shadow how she had to keep herself entertained. "I just...wasn't ready to say goodbye..."

Shadow showed her the full moon. "Whenever you miss me, just look up at the moon. It actually looks the same from both worlds.

Maria wiped away her tears. "Shadow? How do you intend to get the Chaos Emeralds?"

Shadow looked back at her. "I'm the one keeping the Emeralds here. I'm the anchor between the two worlds..." He said, taking his rings off as he raised his hand, hoping this would work. "CHAOS CONVERGE!" He shouted as mere seconds later, seven lights shot from the sky as they headed to Shadow, surrounding him as he started to float and turned yellow.

"Shadow...what's your name?" Maria asked. Shadow floated up to her, whispering in her ear. He teleported away, coming back with a camera.

"One for the roads we take." Shadow stated, though his voice much lighter and...friendlier. He raised his hand, a teal glow emanating from it as he focused on Maria's right hand. "So long Maria..." He stated, handing Maria something before he flew into the air, then burst across the sky in a golden streak, as if he were a shooting star

Maria followed him as much as she could, getting at the edge of the fishing pier. "Sayonara, Shadow the hedgehog." She stated as she looked down at the picture as an amused huff was given. "Blue...of course he'd be blue." She said a s she stared back up into the starry night sky

.

Nelson and Lindsey ran up the hill, getting up to the top and looking around the area when they saw Maria standing at the pier, as she turned with a smile on her face. She waved at them, a golden bracelet loosely on her wrist. "Hi guys..."


	39. What Was Fought For

It was a beautiful morning on Mobius. Well, it was. Robotnik's new ship hovered in the sky, the top being a part of his E-99, the body being his drill ship, with the bottom being the "Carrier"  
"I have an announcement that I'm sure you'll hate!" Robotnik stated from the speakers. "I'm back on this world! Surrender to me now or face obliteration!" He gloated, looking around. _"First things first. I want Shadow dead before anything! Now where is HE!?"_ He thought, wanting to fight Shadow. But Shadow was nowhere to be seen.

.

Amy sat with Cream, Cheese, and her mother Vanilla as they talked about all their wild adventures on earth while drinking tea that Vanilla made. The stories lasted well into the night, and when they all tried to go to sleep they heard Robotnik barking away in his speakers.

Amy left for outside, throwing her hammer hard enough to make Robotnik feel the blow.

"YOU! Pink one! WHERE'S SHADOW!?" Robotnik demanded.

"Don't you have any idea what time it is? Turn down the volume or I'll knock you CLEAN OUT OF THE SKY!" Amy fired back.

Robotnik laughed. "Oh? Going to be hard without your hammer little girl!"

Amy growled in frustration, bringing her hand out and summoned another hammer and dented Robotniks ship again.

Meanwhile, not far off Knuckles was watching the whole thing between them as he found it very entertaining. "Remind me not to keep her awake at night." He heard, turning to see Rouge.

"Bah, don't mind her. She's just worried about Shadow is all." Knuckles explained. That's when he noticed Tails flying by in the Tornado.

"I'm gonna teach you not to keep me awake at night!" Tails yelled as he fired at the massive ship.

"THAT DOES IT!" Robotnik roared. "I wanted my first fight to be against Shadow but you've pushed me to far! FIRE AWAY!" He yelled as a barrage of bullets came flying out of his ship. Tails dodged as he started to fly away, thinking he'd better get out of here. He pulled a lever to switch into jet form, but instead a screen popped over him.

"What the?" Tails asked when he heard a familiar voice.

 _"Tails, this is Chuck"_ His radio said. _"Since you just pulled the transformation lever I assume you're in danger. Don't worry, this new shield in made of a special material that can withstand almost any assault. When I heard about you guys leaving, I took it upon myself to do an upgrade to the X Tornado. Consider it a parting gift to you, my friend. TORNADO, TRANSFORM!"_ Chuck yelled as the Tornado shifted to look like a smaller version of the X Tornado, a simple one seat however, and the engine was two holes at the bottom that shot out fire as Tails rocketed into the air. _"Now it's the Hyper Tornado! Good Luck Tails!"_

"Look out Robotnik!" Tails challenged as he fired missiles, and even a fireball.

"Fine!" Robotnik stated. "I was saving this for Shadow, but I think you've earned it more!" Robotnik stated as he fired a missile from the bottom part of his ship, the rocket looking a bit like a drill.

Tails flew up high, releasing flares but the missile stayed on him. Getting another idea, Tails flew towards Robotniks ship and prepared to out maneuver the rocket, but he couldn't shake it. He hit the turbo, hoping to simply out run the missile, but it was gaining fast. HE turned, his heart pounding as the missile closed the distance. "This is it..." He said to himself. Suddenly, from the moon, a golden shimmer appeared and glowed brighter. Tails looked up at the light and saw a friendly face he hadn't seen in a long time.

The golden blur smashed through the missile destroying it and landing hard of Robotniks ship, his red sneakers, golden buckle and white strap feeling much better that he remembers. He stood proud, facing Robotnik. "Hey there. Long time.

"So...you've healed yourself...Sonic the Hedgehog." Robotnik stated darkly.

The hedgehog smirked. "Hahehehe. You won't take over this planet either, Eggman." Sonic stated, using the old insult.

That pushed Robotnik over the edge. "THAT'S WHAT YOU THINK YOU SUPER SAP! IF YOU GET IN MY WAY I'LL SQUASH YOU LIKE A-" Sonic snapped his fingers and obliterated the ship, surrounding Robotnik in a green energy as he disappeared.

Sonic floated there, feeling the wind in his face as he turned and saw Tails. He gave a thumbs up before he turned away and shot through the sky like a golden shooting star. "It's good to have my buddy back." Tails stated.

Robotnik landed on the ground, looking around when he saw a female Lynx Mobian in a purple toga stare him down, along with Sally herself, both of them giving smug looks. Robotnik pounded his fist into the ground. Sally looked up, watching as the golden streak flew by.

Sonic flew over to his old house, setting down and reverting to his true blue color as his quills went down.

.

Back on earth, a blonde woman in her early 20's was typing away madly when her phone rang. "Maria Thorndyke here, just tell me where the storm is and I'll- Dad? Wait, that was today? I totally forgot, I'm so sorry. I'll be there soon!" She scurried about, getting her things and hopping into a cobalt blue car as she sped off, meeting her parents.

"So, Maria." Nelson asked. "How's work been?"

"Oh, same old same old." Maria responded.

Her mother smirked a little bit. "Meeting anybody catching your eye as of late?"

"Mom!" Maria said in a hushed yell, red forming in her cheeks as Lindsey laughed, saying she was just teasing.

"Hard to believe it's been six years..." Nelson stated.

"It went by fast..." Lindsey agreed.

"Almost like...like him." Maria stated, remembering all the adventures she shared with Shadow. This was the anniversary of the day he left, of the day Sonic came back. She missed him, the feeling of the wind in her face or the adrenaline rush from all her adventures. Now she was the one chasing disaster down, and she loved every minute of it. She looked at her wrist, smiling at the golden rings that stayed loosely fit around her wrists. She also remembered that she promised him to never try and open the gateway between worlds, for everyone's sake. It was a decision she doesn't regret making, and she's proud of it. She looked back up and saw her parents making out again. "Oh, GROSS YOU TWO!" She stated as they all had a laugh.

.

(cue the piano start of "Never Turn Back" by Crush 40)  
Back on Mobius, Sonic sat up against a tree holding a photo. He looked at it in his hand. "Goodbye forever, Shadow the Hedgehog." Sonic stated as he turned around and tossed the photo into the wind, shooting off into the grassy hills. The photo landed in a bed of water, Showing Shadow in front of the White House with his arms crossed.  
(And the rock part of the song comes along.)

.

Now, for credits, here's a list.  
Finish "Never Turn Back" (Crush 40, obviously.)  
"Reach the Goal" (David Alvarez)  
"Coming Home" (Guilty Gear Xrd. song at the end of SAO abridged for all you who were wondering.)

in that order.


	40. One More Last Fist Bump

Ok, Spiders here. For all of you who had already read the story and saw a notification, YES! I did alter a few things as I just didn't like how things felt...rushed. So, I went back and fixed everything I could and I will no longer be working on this story. So, no more chapters, no more updates, nothing. I will still respond to reviews if I can, but I won't be posting anything new for this story. It's done.

So, for all of the new people who hadn't gotten this far yet, Thanks for making it to the end! I hope you enjoyed the story. Yes, that twist probably through a few of you for a loop, but hey. It didn't come completely from nowhere. Shadow was different after all before...well, "Shadow".

Also, I WILL NOT be doing Season 3. It's done, it's over. no more. This is where I feel is the best ending. I had originally intended to, but I could never get past say, episode 3. It would just seem like I'm continuing JUST for the sake of continuing.

one of the original ideas I had were to replace Amy with Blaze in this story but ultimately decided not to as Blaze is to much like Shadow to get any real interactions between them. (Both distant, straight to the point, etc.) and we didn't need another Knuckles.

For the Shadow Saga, I had wanted to use Shadow Android (Looks almost exactly like Shadow, but with yellow where Shadow is red) but decided to do something else in the form of Metal Shadow. I think I made the right choice.

So, some of my favorite Chapters I wrote were  
Fighting Robotnik: Part 2 (Ch.12)  
Setting the Stage (Ch. 18) (Special thanks again to gwencarson126)  
Showdown (Ch. 19)  
A Better Tomorrow (Ch. 25)  
Metal Vs. Mettle (Ch. 27)

Again, Special Thanks to BlazePyro and gwencarson126. These two have supported this story since chapter 1, heck they've been around since at least the third day this story was written.

Also, since I'm updating this story a bit, shout out to Libra-no-ninja9. I can't type to you directly (I don't know why it won't let me.) but yes, I did read all of your reviews and I say thank you.

And finally, here's the original finale to the story.

The setting is the same. Maria was reverted to being 17 again as space time reasons (Or hey, as an adult. take your pick)

Shadow (As he was not revealed and healed yet) was shot out of the cannon with his rings off and in super form. He froze time in that one part of space, making sure that nobody would get hurt but he wasn't heard from. It had been a few weeks since anyone had seen or heard from him.

Maria was sent the letter from Tails, saying he figured out how to send her home and she decided to take it for the sake of both worlds. By now, she was told of Shadow's past, but never saw him until

.

Maria was launched into the air, watching the timer run down until she was sent back to her own planet. A small tear fell onto her cheek as she remembered Shadow, how he sacrificed himself. What stung the most was that she never go to say goodbye...

"BOOM!" She heard faintly as she looked out the window, watching as a dust trail was kicked up and a blue dot poking out.

"He's alive..." She whispered, then her pod shook as she saw the timer closing in on zero. She looked back at the ground. "Sayonara...Shadow. And farewell to you..." She said as the pod burst into the stratosphere, disappearing to send her back home.

Back on the ground, a blue hedgehog stood at the top of a cliff, staring into the blue sky. "So long Maria." He said softly as he turned around to reveal his emerald green eyes. "Nothing ever stays dull around here. Thank Goodness. Now..." He said as he revved his legs into a figure 8 "Let's find that next adventure!"

.

And that's that. That's all. Thank you so much for reading all the way through. And hey, this is not my only story. If you want more from me, check out my other stories. Until then catch you next time.

Oh, and uh, play Fist Bump again. Just for good measure.


End file.
